Whitechapel Damned Yankee
by Kritty3311
Summary: Think of it as a spin off. Not sure if an American can be introduced to English crime fighting imagine if it could.
1. Chapter 1

DI Joseph Chandler sat behind his desk while Commander Anderson explained the situation. Joe wasn't completely understanding of the entire situation and of what he could understand he didn't like. He fought the urge to straighten the paperwork sitting on top of his desk while Anderson walked slowly back and forth creating the wind that stirred the paper. From what he could ascertain he was being forced to accept an American detective into his ranks. An American who was coming to him with a shrouded background and a story that wasn't completely clear even to Commander Anderson. What was clear was fact this was going to happen regardless of whether or not Chandler wanted it to.

"Many favors where called in to see that this person," He let the word hang in the air, "settles into our offices here." He paused in his pacing briefly to look out of the office to the waiting area. "Joe, I'm sure you are aware of your position here. It could be very important for your future, which could be very much improved depending on the outcome. I'm not 100% sure how many friends, she has but, I can assure you they are powerful ones. So it's in everyone's best interest to be as hospitable as possible."

With that, Anderson opened the door and motioned for the woman sitting impatiently on the benches just outside the office. Joe watched as she stood up and walked awkwardly into his office. She wasn't completely unattractive, however her clothes hung cumbersomely on her frame. She wore a bulky oversized gray wool sweater, which had seen better days. She wore black khaki pants and thick soled shoes. She looked completely out of place in his incident room but he didn't suppose she would have looked" in place" anywhere.

She walked through the door and he immediately smelled her perfume, no, not perfume, soap she smelled strongly of soap. It was slightly intoxicating. Anderson made introductions. "DI Chandler this is Vivi Basen. DC Basen, DI Chandler." She took his hand and shook it roughly. He took an immediate dislike to her. He resented the fact she was instituted as a DC, he disliked her taste in clothes and he didn't appreciate what he knew about her reputation. Give him time and he was sure he could find more. But at this moment Kent chose to walk in the office.

"Sir, the coroner phoned." Kent quickly scanned the office, said a polite hello to Anderson and smiled at Vivi.

"Well, I see you are busy, I'll leave you to it." Anderson nodded to Vivi and quickly walked out of the office. Anderson was familiar with most of Vivi's connections. He was still considering what could be done with her and felt this was the best option for now. This could be a benefit or a hindrance depending on how you looked at it. Right now she was out of the way and he didn't think she could cause that much trouble until he did figure a better plan for her.

'Well gentlemen," Chandler announced to get the rooms attention. "This is DC Basen. She will be joining us for a while." Vivi took note of the "for a while" comment. She didn't believe she would stay in this division, however she was surprised she was put here in the first place. In the states she would have been given some crap desk job no matter who she was in bed with, so to speak. They must really hate this DI Chandler and/or his squad.

When it was clear Chandler wasn't going to say anything further she piped up.

"Hi I'm Vivi, I'm a Taurus and I love tomatoes and black-capped Chickadees. I'm sure you are going to hear several wild rumors and stories about me in the upcoming weeks, all professing to be the true account on why I'm here and what happened back in the states. Please make sure I'm out of the room and well out of ear shot when these rumors are circulated. And make sure we keep up a very uncomfortable silence when I walk back in to the room. I respond to Vivi, Detective Basen and that American Bitch, but please make sure you capitalize it." There was nervous laughter around the room. Most if not everyone looked over to an elderly gent, about the same height as she was. She recognized him for what he was, the senior member of this team. Chandler may be in charge however everyone recognized this guy as the true head of the division.

"Well, yes." Chandler tried to recover what little attention he had in the room. "What's in store today?"

"We've been through all the CCTV tapes on Gretchen Mellon's street. We haven't seen anyone who doesn't look like they were supposed to be there and definitely no one coming out of or going into her flat."

"So where are we?"

"Back to where we were before, nowhere!" The elderly gentleman said this. Vivi and Joseph walked over his desk.

"Perhaps you could help bring Basen up to speed?" Chandler offered.

"Of course, Ray Miles," He stuck out his hand. She shook it. Chandler noted Miles' hand shake wasn't as vigorous as his.

"Vivi Basen, good to meet you." They walked over to a board that was half chalk and half white board. A picture was up of a young attractive woman, her name, Gretchen Mellon was written in careful hand writing. She wondered briefly who had written the names and ports in such studious handwriting. Chandler stood next to her adjusting the pictures and notes that didn't need to be adjusted, the person behind the handwriting had revealed himself. Vivi had met his type before and didn't get along well with what her mother would have called "The Gays", which always came as a surprise to her since she tried to get along with everyone, well maybe.

"Gretchen Mellon, 24 murdered in her apartment night before last." Miles started. "She was found by her best friend, she had been suffocated and a single stab wound piercing her heart. Apartment was locked up tight. Not much happening at the apartment other than that, it was clean."

"What does the corners report say?"

"We were just going to talk to her now." Miles explained.

"Why don't you read through the file while Miles and I get the report?" Translation, stay here and do nothing, we will call you when we need grunt work.

She nodded, "it will give me a chance to get up to speed."

"Song for a Future Generation!" Kent screamed excitedly, "The B-52's"

"What?" Miles and Chandler asked in unison.

"Correct." Vivi affirmed turning to Kent smiling.

"Emerson Kent," he said sticking out his hand. Chandler noted this handshake was different again. Instead of extending her entire hand he caught just her fingers. The rest of her hand folded down around his hand. She smiled and looked down. If he hadn't quickly read her bio he would have believed she was much younger than her 38 years. The playful look she gives Kent immediately fills Joe with hatred. He doesn't question whether it's jealousy towards Kent for the attention or hatred towards Vivi since his reception from her was much different. He settles on a deep hatred towards her. He didn't think the quick synopsis Anderson had given him was completely wrong, but he was sure there was a ring of truth to some of it.

"I'd be interested in seeing some of the CCTV from that night." Vivi said to Kent.

The surprise was evident on his face, "Certainly, but not many people willingly want to sit and watch those."

"I'm not like most people." She confessed and followed Kent to his desk for a look at the tapes.

Miles risked a sideways glance at Chandler and smirked. This was going to be a fun and interesting day. They quickly made their way to their way to the coroner's office.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Caroline," Miles greeted the coroner.

"Hello Ray, hell of a day today, that building fire is keeping us plenty busy." In the early morning of the 5th of March a building fire raged, killing 15, 4 of whom were children who failed to escape their father's apartment.

"Agreed," Miles said nodding. He had read up on the arson and was familiar with the lead investigator on the case. "What news do you have for us?" Chandler and Miles arraigned themselves around the table where Gretchen's body lay.

"Well the stab wound happened first. I can tell you that much," Dr. Llewellyn walked to the right side of the autopsy table, opposite of the two detectives. "A small metal object, painted with inexpensive paint. It was round somewhere between 2mm and 3mm in circumference. Not very sharp either, but driven with enough force and in the proper place it managed to pierce her heart. And now either the stabbing was an accident and he needed to finish her off so he suffocated her, or the stab didn't do the job he wanted and he got impatient waiting for her to bleed out and suffocated her. Looks like he took his hands and placed them over her nose and mouth to smother her. It doesn't look like she put up much of a fight, no injuries consistent with someone putting up one hell of a struggle which you would see in a suffocation in that manner."

"So either he had a good hold of her while he did it or she was drugged," Miles finished for her.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"Anything else?" Chandler asked.

"She has small puncture wounds to her hip all the way to her bone, almost the same size as the hole in her heart, however these were made with an aspiration needle. Almost as if they were looking to harvest her bone marrow but doing a poor job of it. She was also pregnant, poor thing. 3 months along, just starting to show," Dr. Llewellyn put her head down and shook it, "we are looking to see if she was drugged the labs not finished with her blood work. Once I get the toxicology reports I'll forward them along."

"You don't have them yet?" Chandler sounded annoyed.

"The lab is a little backed up, I'll give them too you as soon as possible."

"See that you do." With that he turned and walked quickly out of the room. Miles nodded to Caroline and followed Chandler out of the room.

"That was a bit harsh, don't you think?" Miles walked quickly to keep up with Chandler's fast pace.

"When we are trying to catch a killer speed is of the essence." He gave no other explanation.

Back at the incident room Chandler quickly scanned the room. Kent and Vivi were seated behind Kent's desk, heads together silently talking and looking at the computer screen. Although they were no closer than any other two people sharing a computer screen Chandler felt they looked too close.

"What's the news from Dr. Llewellyn?" Finlay asked when he saw Miles enter the room.

"Poor girl was pregnant." Miles said, using the same terminology and mannerisms Llewellyn used when giving her report.

"Just like you called it," Kent said to Basen.

"What was that?" Chandler yelled a little louder than he intended.

"Vivi said she was pregnant. Something about her cupboards." All eyes turned to Vivi and waited.

"Yeah well," Vivi started a little uncomfortable with the attention she suddenly garnered. "There was an open bottle of wine inventoried in the back of her fridge, with a few unopened ones in the wine rack on the counter. From some of the pictures you can see fruit and vegetables around but there are cookies and chips pushed back, almost hidden. The amount she had and her body type wouldn't suggest to me that this is something she has on hand on a regular basis. Most of the food she had on hand was healthy, organic, low fat, low sugar, crap like that. So why would a young woman who normally eats healthy suddenly need high sugar high salty foods? Preggers." Miles nodded at this. It made a little sense and now seemed obvious now that they knew what they did.

"What about the murder weapon any thought on that?" He asked her.

"Not about what was used to suffocate her but her needles are missing."

"What?" Chandler asked again. He was starting to feel a little over whelmed. The person wasn't supposed to show up his team. She had been here less than 2 hours and suddenly she knew everything. But shouldn't he be happy about this? If this case is cleared quickly then she may be out of his hair all that much sooner.

"She was making something right?" Vivi flipped through the manila folder on her desk. "Looks like she was making socks or booties most likely. From the picture she was using I think size 2 or 3 double pointed knitting needles. I'm not sure what that translates to in British but we can look it up to confirm. They come in packs of 4 or 5, if one is missing then that is most likely your stabbing weapon." This was met with complete silence. No one had thought about the project she had been working on before she was killed and not a soul had taken a glimpse of her cabinets and come to the same conclusion about their victim.

"Can I see you in my office," Chandler walked into his office without waiting for an answer. Vivi stood up and followed.

He sat behind his desk. "Close the door please." Vivi closed the door as instructed. He didn't offer her a seat. There really wasn't a chair available in his office even if he had offered.

"DC Basen, we follow certain protocols in this office. We appreciate a certain since of order and…" He didn't get an opportunity to finish his sentence before she interrupted.

"I'm sorry, am I getting reamed because I found clues?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what that means, I just wanted to point out-"

"Wait, I understand what you are 'pointing out'" She used her hands and made air quotes. "It just seems useless and asinine. A different pair of eyes on the case can always help. How many men in your squad knit? Trust me I haven't missed any meals which is why I'm a little familiar with the snacks and how their handled. Maybe someone with kids may have been able to spot the food thing but that's just how my mind works." Vivi's voice was rising and she had stepped up to his desk.

Chandler was looking for a way to escape. He hadn't expected this at all. People in DC Basen's position normally try to make as little waves as possible. He didn't think this person was capable of keeping quiet. She was making the idiom "brash American" to the extreme. She was solidifying his hatred for her, but she still found clues the rest of the team hadn't. He found his voice and countered.

"If you are quite well finished it would be appreciated if you lowered your voice." Vivi closed her mouth and struggled to put her hands down by her side. "Let me explain something to you. You will work in this office until you are placed somewhere else. Here, we do things in a certain way and in a certain order. We conduct ourselves in a certain manner. While I do not find fault in the fact that you've assisted greatly in the case, how you are conducting yourself is not appreciated." He paused and straightened paper work that was already neat. "We dress respectfully in the office. Something professional is appreciated, and nothing too revealing. When sitting with our coworkers-."

So here it was she thought. She was stepping on toes was she? She hadn't pegged Kent for swinging that way but she guessed it made sense, junior member of the squad getting "assistance" from the lieutenant or whatever they seem to call each other here. He didn't have that much to worry about she had about 10 years on the kid and she guessed hitting on the bosses "lad" was frowned upon everywhere.

"Look," She said struggling to keep her hands down by her side, fighting the urge of pointing her fingers right into his face. "I'm a damn good detective. I'm tops at what I do. Let me work and I'll come back with results. I may have some things to work on to ensure it's done in your wonderful British way but I can get there. You may think you know what happened in the states but let me tell you, no one knows what happened. No one knows the full story so you can stop the predisposed speculation. And as for your Kent…" Vivi didn't get an opportunity to finish, Miles chose that moment to rap at the door quickly and poked his head through.

"We have another one." He explained. "There is another body found in a building on Hobsons Pl."

Chandler got up from behind his desk he and Vivi started to follow Miles back through the door when he grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

"We'll finish this conversation later." He bent down to say this in her ear as not to be over heard by the others. This move gave him the opportunity to smell her soap again, making him wonder what she did to still smell like soap so far into the day. Most scents faded but hers seemed just as strong as it had been when she first stepped into his office earlier. The gesture also gave her an opportunity to assess Joe in a closer inspection.

Too tall for his own good, deep blue eyes with perfectly styled hair and a good eye for fashion "Too bad he's gay." She thought. "I bet he's one hell of a ride."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Miles and Vivi drove to the scene together.

"You are making fast friends" he noted.

"You know I wrote the book on "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People."

"Maybe you should unwrite it," the annoyance sharp in his voice.

"Aw, but it's not that easy writing a book you know. It took a long time to complete. Hey!" she exclaimed. "I know this area, I got lost here a few days ago." She jabbed her finger at the window. "I wanted to go to that dress shop"

"How'd you get lost here!" He screamed, surprised.

"I can get lost if I have a map and the town only has one road." She confessed.

Miles chortled and shook his head. "We'll have to watch out for you then." He stopped the car and they stepped out. They showed their IDs to the duty officer and were allowed past the tape. There was quite a crowd starting to gather and DS Miles quickly scanned the faces.

"What do you think?" He asked Vivi.

"I think we took the slow road everyone is here already. " Vivi pointed as Kent and Chandler walked through the entry way to the building.

"Don't be daft, I meant the crowd."

She nodded, "It's possible he may have come back." In Miles' experience it was likely their suspect was in the crowd, watching to see the goings on.

"Shall we?" Miles and Vivi followed their colleagues into the building. Inside the cramped apartment Dr. Llewellyn was bending over the body.

"Careful everyone," Riley mused, "It's a mess in here." She was underestimating the situation. There was a large pool of blood around the body and someone had stepped through it and tramped it all through the house.

"Why such a mess with the blood." Chandler asked.

A uniformed officer spoke up. "That would be my fault sir." A young man sat upon a small stool trying to be as in conspicuous as possible. He had no shoes on and his feet were covered with plastic bags. His uniform had been replaced with a white paper jump suit usually reserved for coveralls and wasn't going to help much against the elements. He stood up, "PC Wood sir. See we needed to break down the door to get into the apartment. I pushed the door a little too hard with a little too much force and arrived in the room a little too fast. I tripped and ended up stepping a little too far in the room before I knew what was going on. "

"So our crime scene has been compromised!" Chandler lamented.

" 'fraid so," Llewellyn confirmed.

"Perfect" Chandler cried throwing up his hands.

"We may still be able to get something Sir." Kent countered optimistically.

Not everyone was that optimistic when reviewing the crime scene. It was if someone had tried to clean up the blood with a badly soiled rag. It was spread over the small linoleum floor of the kitchen and even smaller dining room. Most of the blood seemed confined to these tiny rooms however it also appeared as if PC Wood not only slipped in the blood but rolled in it and tried to get it on every counter, cabinet and shelf he possibly could.

Basen tiptoed her way through the blood, the blue paper booties barely covering her thick soled shoes. She started to crouch down next to the body but started to slip. Kent caught her hand and held it fast.

"Careful."

"Thanks," she answered and held on to his hand as she bent down and looked at the body. Chandler noted the hand holding and felt it lasted longer than needed. Miles noted the look on his face again.

"Do you think it's been moved?" she asked.

"Are you sure, he didn't do it" Miles thumbed his finger at PC Wood. He was just as annoyed as Chandler was at the destruction of the crime scene however he was better at hiding his aggravation.

"There's what looks like ash under her nails and it looks like it's been mixed into this bit of blood right here" Basen said pointing to a spot closer to her head that didn't seem too disturbed.

"The crime scene hasn't been completely cleared. We will keep an eye out for that soil and anything else that seems out of place."

"What about the other body, what about Gretchen's?" Chandler fidgeted from foot to foot. He was upset at having very little space to move in. The cramped apartment was becoming unbearably hot and he was again shown up by the American. Well no, that wasn't right either was it? He wasn't shown up by the American, not him personally, he hadn't had an opportunity to look at the body yet at all.

"There were no signs of it but I could look again." Dr. Llewellyn thought it was doubtful that she would have made such a mistake however it was possible.

"I'd like to go to the first crime scene." Vivi announced standing up.

"I could take her Sir," Kent offered.

"No you can stay here," Chandler looked around. "Riley you can take her." Yes, yes this is exactly what he needed, he needed her out of his hair as quickly as possible. The two female detectives looked at each other and laughed. Chandler immediately regretted his decision. For some reason it was important to him that everyone hate her as much as he did.

Riley and Vivi exited the small apartment and could be heard giggling and whispering all down the hall.

"I'm glad you got them out of our hair," Miles said smugly, "all that being right was getting annoying."

Chandler's look stopped any further snide comments.

Dr. Llewellyn finished her examination of the body, mentioned the presence of a few unknown fibers in her hair and suggested the techs start looking for anything in the apartment that could match it.

"What makes this related to the Mellon girl's death?" Miles asked.

"They were both suffocated in the same fashion. Mouth and nose were squeezed and held shut. Same type of stab wound. Little bigger, but still a small diameter weapon driven with enough force to puncture her heart. And the same puncture wounds to the hip"

"Marrow harvest?"

"Too early to tell if he was successful or not, but that would be my guess."

"Thanks Caroline. And we really need to stop meeting like this." Miles nodded to the coroner and left the tiny apartment with Chandler and Kent following closely behind.

"Kent, you and Mansell please talk to the neighbors, find out all you can about our vic." Both nodded and went to knock on doors.

"Where are you going?" Miles quizzed Chandler.

"I need to make a phone call." Chandler explained and started down the stairs.

"To who?" Miles screamed down. Chandler didn't answer. He didn't need to. Miles was getting a little tired of this, the thought of retirement ran through his head again. But he pushed it down again, he was interested in seeing how the new DC got through.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Joe! How is everything?" Edward Buchan cried joyfully. It had been a few weeks since he had heard from the detective and he was getting a little nervous he had been forgotten about.

"I was wondering what you could tell me about suffocation."

They met in a small crowded coffee house. A little too small and crowded for Joe's taste but is was the closest place to both of them.

"Now," Buchan started, "What kind of suffocation are we talking about?" He placed his briefcase between his leg opened it and took out a very large file folder.

"We've found two women suffocated in their apartments and it looks as if someone was trying to remove their bone marrow." Chandler sat back rubbing his eyes. Something about this sounded too familiar to him.

"Ah, are you talking about "'burking' "

"Come again? Chandler sat up straight at this, this term was familiar to him.

"Burking, named after William Burke of Edinburgh. He and his partner William Hare, would kill by suffocating their victims, one would hold the victim down while the other would hold close the mouth and nose. They amassed quite a body count. They ran a popular local in. They sold their victim's bodies to a one Dr. Robert Knox who would then use the body for teachings of anatomy to his class. Through their dastardly deeds lead to the Anatomy Act of 1832, which forbid-" Chandler stopped listening and started to get up.

"Where are you going, I've only just begun?" Buchan questioned.

"Thanks but for now this is what I need."

"But you have only half the information, plus there could other information we haven't even scratched the surface."

"I'll call you if I need you again." He left the coffee shop in a rush. He had one simple thought in his mind, he had information that Basen didn't have and couldn't have counted on, he was going to get to her and give her a piece of evidence she didn't have already. Show her what for. He doubted this would be a copycat case and didn't think Buchan would be of any further use to him. Currently he was consumed by one thought showing up the American.

* * *

><p>Megan Riley and Vivi Basen begrudgingly walked up the steps to Gretchen Mellon's flat. The stairway was unbearably hot. The landlord explained the boiler had stopped working properly and wouldn't shut off. He had a workman down in the basement attempting to fix it but they weren't having much success.<p>

Vivi was tempted to remove her gray sweater but remembered what she had on underneath and kept it on. Riley removed her own jacket however.

"How are you finding out city?" she asked. It was good to see a follow female officer and she was determined to make the best of it. Plus she had admired the fact the fact that the American had found clues that took everyone a little longer to come to, maybe she had a trick or two up her sleeve.

"I'm not," Vivi replied. "I get lost getting the mail." Riley laughed at this.

"Here we are 314," they stopped in front of the door. A police sticker and a deadbolt guarded entry into the crime scene. Riley took out a key and opened the deadbolt. As Riley turned the handle Vivi's hand immediately went to her hip, her right hip where she used to carry her gun. No such luxury now, she was issued a baton but hadn't gotten the hang of it yet and so far refused to carry it. She put her hand back down by her side and entered the apartment with Riley.

It was equally hot in the flat. The two woman went in opposite directions upon entering the flat instinctively taking up flanking positions. Vivi's hand again went to her hip again. It didn't feel right in the apartment. The air was hot and stuffy. It reminded her of a bathroom you went into after someone had taken a shower, used the toilet and had a smoke. There was also a faint reminiscent smell of cigarette smoke. She had supposed it could be from another tenant in the building. Heavy smokers had tendency to ruin clear air that way.

"It's too stuffy in here."

"Yeah, it's kinda gross," Vivi agreed. "Let me look around real quick then we can be on our way."

The apartment door opened up directly into the living room. A small rectangle of tile acted as the entryway. A small table off to one side Vivi assumed acted as a catchall, coins, mail and other bric-a-brac cluttered the small table top. Vivi took a quick inventory and noted no keys. She didn't recall if it was inventoried in the report, she would need to reread it when they got back.

Riley continued into the kitchen and checked the cupboards and the refrigerator to confirm Vivi's observations. Vivi walked into the living room then into the first bedroom she came too. She wasn't 100% sure what she was looking for but felt better since this scene was cleaner than the one they just escaped from.

There was something odd about the room but Vivi couldn't quite put her finger on it. It held a queen size bed, an ugly wardrobe was kitty corner to the right of the bed. Basen gave a cursory glance to an old wooden vanity littered with assorted make up and jewelry. She was about to leave when a picture on the wall caught her attention. It was a simple landscape, not a very good one either, however someone had taken the time to mat this picture in a nice frame. It showed to figures walking in a park or forest. Vivi scrutinized it for a moment more then realized what was off about it when she heard a noise behind her. It was barely audible, just a few clicks, most would have chalked it up to house noises but Vivi instead widened her stance, moving her left foot about 5 inches away from her right. She tried to relax her shoulders so whoever was behind her would be as surprised as he was expecting her to be. She bent suddenly, her knees and swept her leg out behind her in a low roundhouse kick. It didn't work the man standing behind had anticipated this move and avoided it easily.

Vivi's hand again went to her empty hip.

"Dammit!" she screamed. She swing wide trying to catch him with a right but he again avoided her swing. His left arm swept up in a back swing that he brought down in what she could only describe as a "Judo Chop" The ridiculousness of it surprised her. She stepped back and the small cushioned stool in front of the vanity caught her at the back of her knee and she stumbled. His hand caught mostly air but managed to tip her nose with his fingers. This brought tears to her eyes as she fell.

"Riley will hear the scuffle and call for back up," she thought to herself. The assailant stepped up to her and grabbed her arm. He brought her up and swung her around pinning her arm behind her.

"Todas as garotas bonitas deve cheirar esse doce." he stepped up close behind her. He crushed up against her pinning her against the wall. His leaned his entire body weight against her and brought her arm up further up her back as her pressed. She tried to cry out, she tried to scream but couldn't find her voice. Panic started to close her throat as he grabbed her other arm and brought it behind her as well.

"You're a right pretty bird." He pressed up against her, nestling his nose into her neck and behind her ear. Now, in this room with this man pushing up against her, breathing on her brought on a panic attack that threatened to bubble over. He was compressing her lungs, pushing the air out of her, making it more and more difficult to breathe.

"What the-"Riley walked into the room. The attacker stepped back from Basen and ran to Riley who was stood stuck in the doorway. He struck her first in the face, a direct hit to her nose. Blood exploded and ran down her face. Her hands instinctively rushed to her injured nose. Her knees buckled underneath her and she went down. He clamped his hands together and brought his hands up and then down at the base of her neck. She collapsed unconscious.

Vivi had managed to step away from the wall and took a huge breath trying to fill her panicked lungs. She turned in time to see his blow to the back of Riley's head. She tried to scream and lunged at him. He turned and caught her wrists and spun her around again. The speed at which he had her trapped and crushed again brought the cold feel of panic again into her blood. He grew a third arm, somehow entrapping both arms behind her back and using another hand that crawled over her face. He pinched her nose and covered her mouth. Hysteria set in. She tried to fight against him, he only held tighter, pinching her arms behind her back. Black spots swam before her eyes. She tried again to fight against him and felt her shoulder dislocate. The pain was excruciating. As she fought for air the blackness enveloped her and she lost consciousness.

Chandler pulled up to the building, running through his mind what he would say to her. How exactly was he going to approach this? Not too smugly he decided. He would just let her know what he found out. Give her the news and see where it took them.

The temperature in the building was still stifling. Chandler walked quickly up the stairwell to the 3rd floor. When he reached apartment 314, the door was slightly ajar. This struck Chandler odd, protocol dictated the door be closed, preventing any looky loos.

"Riley, Basen"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Vivi's eyes fluttered open to see Chandler's face floating above hers. She sat up pushing and clawing him out of the way.

"Oh, thank God." He breathed, sitting back down on the floor hard. He pushed slightly away from her and wiped his mouth. She caught this and squinted at him, a gesture that caused her pain. Everything hurt she realized. She looked around the room.

Riley was on the floor as well. Awake and leaning up against the closet, she was holding a bloody cloth up to her nose. Blood was caked on her shirt and she had the makings of two very black eyes.

"I don't-" Vivi started, she tried to grab her head. Her left arm ruptured in pain. She instead used her right and messaged a small area over her brow with her fingers. She was disoriented and couldn't think.

There was a commotion outside of the room. Miles then Kent stamped in.

"Next time you call for help," scolded Miles, "make sure you tell us where you are!"

Chandler gave him a distracted glace, then looked back to Vivi.

"You weren't breathing," he whispered to her. He looked whiter than normal.

Vivi struggled to remember what had happened but couldn't come up with anything past stepping into the hot hallway, which seemed ages ago.

"Meds are on their way." Kent explained, putting a hand gingerly on her arm. He put it on the left arm and she shrunk back from him. Only then did he see the odd way her arm hung. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." She said and started to get up.

"You're not going anywhere until someone checks you out." Miles said with authority, then to Chandler, "you alright?"

"Hey! Lady with a broken nose over here!" Riley muffled loudly through the bloody cloth.

"Quiet you," Miles said bending next to her, "Besides, you look better now." Riley made an attempt to swing at him but moaned instead.

Back at the squad room Chandler sat behind his desk. He fixed the files to the right of the stapler, then the files to the left and then he fixed the stapler itself.

He looked up again, out across the room towards DC Basen's desk. He knew she is still there even though she had sunk low in her seat, so low she was practically laying in her chair. She insisted on coming back to the office. Even though her arm was in a sling and she had a several horse sized pills for the pain.

Mansell took Riley home directly from the scene. Miles had left just minutes ago, leaving Kent and Basen alone, and Chandler waiting.

"Did you want to go get a drink or something to eat?" Kent tentatively asked Vivi. He had gotten up from his desk. His coat slung over his arm. He tried to sound casual but he shifted from foot to foot waiting for her answer.

She looked up at him. Her hand froze near her mouth. She was putting on her thirty third coat of lip balm a habit she had developed years ago whenever she was working on a case, that and certain other things. She smiled and sat up.

"Can I have a rain check? I'm afraid I wouldn't be that great of company tonight and you wouldn't want me hanging around, I can be a bit of a complainer when I'm injured.

"Sure, certainly, no problem." Kent stumbled suddenly very embarrassed. He started backing away from her desk.

"Kent, I would like nothing more than to have you show me the town." She tried to defuse the situation. "I need to find out about it sooner or later, just tonight, I'll be a pain, trust me. Maybe Friday?" she offered.

"Sure," less embarrassed but still worried he had said the wrong thing. "Night sir," he said as he passed Chandler who had just stepped out of his office. Chandler picked up the rubbish bin and started to walk the desks. He would get to her eventually but needed to complete his nightly duties. He was slow and methodical. Carefully scanning the desks and floors for garbage, careful not to missing a single paper or crumb, fighting against the need to rush to her desk.

When he finally did arrive at her desk she was no longer there. He looked quickly around knowing she could not have left without walking past him. He thought for a moment she was hiding under her desk when he heard the door behind him open. Chandler spun around in time to see Vivi walk back into the room.

"You guys don't have a cleaning lady?" She teased. "You get paid extra for that or is it a perk for being the boss?"

"I'm glad to do it," he said picking up a used tissue as if to confirm it.

"Something to look forward too then?" she asked suspiciously. "Gee, what can I do to get that promotion?"

"Did you change?" Chandler looked at her more closely. The lumpy gray sweater was replaced with a tight fitting sheer white blouse. A (pink?) bra was visible underneath. The shirt clung to her curves, the sleeves stretched against her arms and he discovered she was more muscular than he initially thought.

"You're quite the detective," she agreed. "Can't really get anything past you eh?"

"It's just… Are you wearing makeup as well?" he exclaimed. "It suits you."

"Be careful," she cautioned. "You are on your way to paying me a complement.

"It's just, it's just you look better with it, you should wear it more often." He regretted the comment the moment it passed his lips. "I-" he faltered.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Why break a trend. Look," her voice softened and she stepped closer to him. "Thank you for today. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I wouldn't be here right now." She smiled shyly and put her head down. It reminded him of the look she gave Kent earlier in the day.

A thought came to her, she smiled and looked up at him. "Why were you there? Checking up on us? On me?"

He flushed red, it ran from his collar up to his forehead.

"Well I…" she took another step towards him. He dropped the pail in his arms, its clunk echoed in the empty room.

"I spoke with someone who mentioned 'Burking'" he explained, his voice squeaked as he spoke. She was too close. He didn't like anyone this close to him in the first place and she in particular was making his claustrophobia worse. "He thought we might be dealing with a 'Burke and Hare' type"

"You went there to brag?" she asked, closer still, jutting her chin out towards him, only inches away from him. The familiar scent of her soap filled his nose again. He looked around, desperately looking everywhere except her in her eyes. He looked down instead, but that was a bad idea as well. Her shirt buttons where open, he caught sight of the swell of her breast, the bra (fuchsia not pink) lace top clearly visible.

"No," she disagreed. "They sold those bodies." She stepped away from him suddenly. The disconcerting felling she caused didn't dissipate as quickly.

She struggled into a short cropped jacket, made more difficult by her still sore arm. He made no attempt to assist her, but she managed without him. She reached up and removed a pencil that was stuck in her hair, as soon as she did her hair exploded around her face. It made him wonder how something as small as a pencil had managed to hold it all up.

"Any lipstick on my teeth?" she asked turning towards him and smiling, her hair ringlets cascading around her shoulders.

"No," his reply was barely audible. "But," he paused. "It may be a bit much, I… I never appreciated too much lipstick."

"Good thing I'm not trying to sleep with you," she chuckled and walked out of the office. Once she turned the corner however, she removed a tissue from her pocket and used it to blot her lips.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Joe threw the book back on the coffee table. He couldn't concentrate on the text. He seemed to be reading the same passages over and over. He checked to clock over the TV, 10:25. Too many things ran through his mind. They all came back to Vivi. Currently he was trying to convince himself that once this case was over she'd be out of his hair. He wouldn't have to worry about her again. Then his mind drifted again to her lifeless body on the bedroom floor. Too many times he had seen the corpse of an unknown victim, this time it had been someone he knew, someone he cared about? That couldn't be right he had only known the dammed woman for a day. It was Riley, his mind countered, his concern was justified because both were in the apartment. Riley was just coming too when he had arrived, the blood drying an ugly maroon red on her face and nose. Then he saw Vivi, the image filled his head again. It didn't want to leave.

He spied the plate of cold pasta he had made that sat uneaten on the table. He got up and took the plate into the kitchen with him. He had cleaned and dried the pots and pans he used to prepare his meal, so he had no real cleaning to occupy his mind. Instead he took his time washing the plate he did have as well as the wine glass. Carefully he dried both, put them away, straightened and restraightened the other dishes in the cabinets.

He looked at the clock 10:47, he gave up and decided to go to bed. Maybe sleep would be the relief of the day. He showered and as the water rained down her reached for the soap. Although the scent wasn't the same, his mind again went to Vivi. This time instead of her lifeless form on the floor he thought of the swell of her breast, the quick peak of cleavage he saw, the cupid bow her lips made accented by the lipstick she had worn, the explosion of hair that haloed her face.

"You will have to do something about this" he thought.

Vivi, in the meantime was driving. She got lost, found her way, got turned around then went the wrong way down a one way street. She missed her SUV with built in GPS. Her car had been too big, unnecessary and too expensive on gas, petrol, she reminded herself. She finally recognized the area where she was and knew where she wanted to be. She found a parking space, pulled into it and walked the few blocks to the club. She stepped down a narrow set of stairs, past the bouncer who recognized her. She walked into the darkened room and felt at home.

Brandon was on the piano as usual. Adnan was tending bar. He called to Vivi she smiled and tried to raise her left arm forgetting for the moment it was incapacitated. She was rewarded with a new kind of pain for her trouble. She nodded her head towards him instead.

"Usual?" he asked, she nodded and continued further into the club. A crowd was gathering at the Connelly's table as always.

"Join us," Sophia Connelly called. Vivi smiled but walked on. She was felling selfish today and didn't need the trouble of another woman and certainly not the crowd that was forming at their table. She found an empty table almost in the back of the club and settled in.

Most patrons favored the front tables closest to the bar, where they would be able to see the new meat that happened to wonder in when Eytan the bouncer allowed. Vivi always took up residence in the back. She was still able to be seen, but had the benefit of seeing anyone who came up to her. Her prescreen precaution. She wasn't in the back alone. Marty was at his usual table in the far back corner. His face lit only by the small candle on his table that flickered violently and half obscured by the hat he always wore. She nodded to him as well. Adnan dropped off her drink and she thanked him. She settled back in to the deep chair.

She picked up her phone and checked her messages, all 57 of them. 37 were from Craig. As she scrolled though the usual 'Where are you?' 'Don't ignore me' there were a few numbers followed by random names.

He thought he was being clever by keeping her intrigued with his cryptic messages. She had seen through this façade months ago. He was slowly losing his hold on her. It was untrue what they said, absence didn't make her heart grow fonder.

"Am I interrupting?" She looked up at the voice. Standing in front of her was the 'tall, dark and handsome' she preferred. She motioned to the empty chair next to her and he joined her. The small talk was minimal. He did most of it. Letting her know he was in town for just a few days. He lived in France and would be going back after a few days. He made an attempt to tell her why he was there and what he did for a living but her eyes glazed over and she started to lose interest. She cared very little he mentioned he was staying close by and offered her a drink there. When they arrived at his hotel room the small talk was nonexistent. He was the distraction she needed tonight, like almost every night since before.

He was cordial, not too experienced in the art of the quickie. Something she was learning more and more about. He was trying desperately to be smooth. She hated to see him struggle and took the lead. They quickly undressed. He helped her with her jacket and shirt, gently peeling off her clothes when he explained about her shoulder a fact he forgot about later when he collapsed on top of her.

He had whispered endearments in French in her ear, something that she found increasingly annoying. He was trying too hard and she became disinterested quickly. She did manage to fake her performance for him. She figured she did owe him that much.

Now the afterward, she sat on the edge of his bed smoking a cigarette she had bummed from his pack. His attempt at a conversation now was falling on deaf ears, she was in the middle of trying to think of a perfect exit excuse when her phone rang. She managed not to jump on it. Calmly picking it up and looking at the caller ID.

"I do have to go, I'm sorry." She apologized not really meaning it.

"Yves" he said.

"Sorry?"

"My name, Yves Bonton" the name rolled off his tongue.

"Like I care", she thought, but managed "Vivi Basen" instead.

"Maybe I will see you again?"

"Yeah, maybe," she agreed. She dressed swiftly and left. In the lobby she quickly made for the woman's room and barely made it into a stall before the retching started. Her body's punishment for what she was doing to it. Her shrink had said it was psychosomatic, of course she stopped listening to him once they started sleeping together so who cared what he said.

She was done for the night and managed to slink home with the very little dignity she had left.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Early the next morning Miles sat flipping through the coroner's report on Gretchen Mellon, still waiting for the report on the most recent victim, Miles wanted to be sure he knew this one so he could match any similarities.

"Morning Miles," Chandler greeted. "You're here early."

"Figured I'd be a step ahead since we'll be down two."

"Yes," Chandler agreed, however he doubted Vivi would take anyone's advice to rest.

"Let me ask you something," Miles inquired. Joe stopped and walked over to the older man's desk.

"Yes," he figured he'd be asked some specifics about the case or something.

"What's with the new DC? What's her story?"

"I really don't have much information for you I'm afraid." Joe looked around suddenly worried she might walk in.

"Come on now, you must know something."

Chandler looked around and when confident no one else was around leaned down to Ray.

"There are reports of certain, indiscretions with her captain. "

"Noooope" Chandler shot up, Vivi walked into the room. A lumpy brown sweater replacing the lumpy grey she wore yesterday.

"I thought I told you no discussing me when I'm within ear shot." She showed up for work with an oversized coffee cup in her hand. "Glad we are sticking to the uncomfortable silence though."

"I'm just surprised," Miles cracked. "Figured you'd be most comfortable when people are talking about you."

"Not true" she replied. "I'm only slightly narcissistic."

"What are you doing here!" Mansell screamed when he walked in. "Figured you take a day off after being mostly dead. Plus aren't American's always looking for excuses not to work?"

"Who said I was going to work?"

He laughed, then said to Chandler, "Megan won't be in today, she's still a little indisposed." That was slight flush to his face when he said this. Both Miles and Vivi caught this. If Chandler did, he chose to ignore it.

"I'd like to go back to Mellon's house." Vivi announced.

"Now why would you want to do that?" Miles shouted.

"I didn't finish what I had started yesterday," she explained. "So I'd like to go back, this time with a gun."

"You don't get a gun!" Miles exclaimed using what Vivi like to term his "dad" voice.

"No gun," Chandler agreed matter-of-factly. "We will go with you, you'll have plenty of protection."

"My hero," she squealed batting her eyes. "I don't need protection I need my gun."

"No gun!" Miles and Chandler said in unison.

"Do we have any information on our latest victim?" Chandler asked, choosing to ignore Vivi for the moment.

"Lynne Hardey, 28 lives alone, works for an insurance provider. Only next of kin is a sister her parents died in an auto accident last summer. She was out the night before, left with a few friends, dressed a little provocatively. She came home around midnight with a "suspicious" character that neighbors did not remember seeing before. No one knows what time he left" Kent finished reading from his note book and flipped it closed.

"Somebody is trying to show us all up." Vivi whispered loudly.

"Not really," Kent replied. "She just has a really nosey neighbor."

"Well we need to see if we can find these friends she went out with, see if the corner has her report and visit Mellon's flat." Chandler announced.

"Kent and Mensell can interview her friends, you and Miles can get the corner report and I'll go to the flat. I just need that gun."

"NO GUN!"

Miles and Chandler agreed to accompany Vivi to the scene. When they arrived, Vivi saw at least 4 uniformed officers outside. She had a sneaky suspension they would find more in the apartment. She was correct about the additional uniform officers, however there was also a tech team. The wind was knocked out of her sails when she realized that no one was there for her protection but more for the fact that there was a "new" scene to process.

When they made it up to the flat, Vivi's hand again went to her hip, forgetting for what felt like the millionth time that she wasn't carrying. The building wasn't nearly as hot as it was yesterday, it seems they repaired the issues they were having.

She was still struggling to remember exactly what happened yesterday. She was told it was normal to lose some memories after an injury like hers however, as the connections repaired themselves she was hoping to start remembering. She walked around the apartment trying to remember exactly what she had looked at and what she needed to see. Chandler was keeping her on a short leash, keeping her in sight while trying not to be underfoot.

"Do you remember what you are looking for?" Miles asked.

"I wouldn't have been looking for anything, but I would have been looking for everything." She scanned the walls and bric-a-brac Gretchen had throughout the apartment. She hung out in the living room then gathered her courage and walked into the bedroom they had found her in. She again wished she had her gun and regretted not bringing the one she had back at her own apartment. Obvious not department issue and it would have gotten her in deep if they found out about it but she wasn't planning on ever doing without it.

As she opened the closet, one of the techs spoke up.

"We think he was hiding in the closet when you and DC Riley came to the scene." She nodded at this, biting her tongue and fighting back the urge to make a smart ass comment. She didn't think she would have walked into the room if he was laying on the bed.

She walked around the room trying to picture it how Gretchen saw it. She then noticed an ugly picture on the wall. It felt familiar. It looked like any other cheap reproduction print you can get. It was framed but the frame was just as cheap at the print it was framing.

"Can we dust this?" she asked the tech. He nodded and stepped past her to talk the picture off the wall.

She walked back in the living room Miles and Chandler were chatting in the corner. There was a kerfuffle in the hall and everyone tried at once to through the door to find out what was going on.

Two uniforms had surrounded a smallish thin man with an overstuffed duffle bag at his feet.

"Hey I live in there right!" the man pointed to the door next to their current crime scene.

"What's your name then?" One of the uniforms asked.

"What's it too you cop?"

"Excuse me?" Chandler interjected. "You live in the building?"

"Yeah, right now this git is in my way." He motioned to the cop currently in has path. The officer stepped up to the man and another scuffle ensued.

"Wait," Chandler tried to start again. "The woman in this apartment was murdered the other night and we are trying to get some information."

"Well I don't know nothin' and I don't care." He started to push passed the officer again when Vivi showed up at the door. The little man brushed passed Chandler and oozed next to Vivi.

"Names Richter love, you wanna pop in we'll have a chat?" he barely came up to her chest.

"Well we would like to get some information from you still," Chandler attempted again. The man seemed thoroughly uninterested in everyone but Vivi at the moment.

"You're not mixed up with these blokes are you?" the short man asked Vivi.

"DC Basen, perhaps you can ask Mr. Richter here about his neighbor."

"It's just Richter gov, like Sting or Cher." He took his hand and slid a finger down Vivi's arm.

She smacked it away and looked over to Chandler who had found something incredibly interested to say to Miles at the moment and moved away from Richter and Vivi. Vivi made a mental note to rip him a new one the next time the spoke and leaned into Richter to get the information they needed.

When Chandler stepped back into the apartment Miles gave him a disapproving look. Chandler ignored it.

"You are gonna-" Miles' cell phone rang. He spoke into it for a few minutes.

"Coroner has some news," He explained

"Well, we should go see what she has to say" Chandler said and started to leave the flat without waiting for an answer.

"What about Basen?"

"You'll give her a ride won't you officer?" he asked the uniform who had the initial contact with Richter.

"Certainly sir but," he paused.

"Yes," Chandler urged.

"She went in there with him." The office pointed to the door with a wavering hand.

"What?" Chandler said this as a harsh whisper, Miles practically screamed. Miles walked over to the apartment door and put his hand up to knock.

"Wouldn't do that," the uniform offered.

"Why the hell not?"

"Well sir," he shifted uncomfortably. "She wasn't pleased and suggested something rather impossible if she were disturbed. To be honest," he said in a confidential tone. "I don't really understand her."

"Join the club!" Miles said and begrudgingly left the apartment.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 **

Chandler was keeping Miles in his office by trying to engage him in small talk. Miles knew his bosses play and decided to stay to kept him amused. He was actually looking forward to the scene that was about to play out. Mansell and Kent stayed to their desks. They had heard about the incident and were curious themselves what would happen, the new DC didn't seem in the least restrained.

Chandler asked about the baby and how everyone in the household was adjusting. Miles answered willing enough however he knew Chandler was only half listening. Chandler continued to perfect the paperwork on his desk running through his mind what hell Vivi would be letting loose. He didn't think the fact that she was a subordinate would inhibit her.

They were aware of her arrival as soon as she stepped on to the floor. Vivi stormed into the office reminding Miles of a spoiled brat but once he saw how she looked he was more than a little worried. Her normally ill-fitting clothes were disheveled. The lumpy brown sweater misbuttoned and one of her shoes was untied. Her hair that she normally kept in a bun or pony tail hung loose and tendrils of hair hung about her face.

"What the hell happened?" Miles screamed.

"You mean besides the fact that you left me with Captain McCreepy Pants." Vivi leaned over Chandler's desk disturbing the files and whatnot around him.

"Well yes, I didn't realize that that would be a problem. " Chandler started, choosing to ignore the mess she was making of his desk. "You've made it clear on more than one occasion that you were not interested in any special treatment by anyone. You seem more than capable of handling yourself in situations. It didn't think you on your own would be an issue. As a matter of fact I thought you would use it as an opportunity to show us how well you can handle yourself. If I was mistaken in that assumption then I do apologize."

Vivi opened her mouth then closed it, then opened it again. She lifted her finger to point it at Chandler then put it down again. Chandler fought to keep the innocent look on his face. He had struggled to come up with an excuse, and had actually surprised himself when he did think of it. Miles stepped into the corner of the office and put his head down in an effort to hide the huge smile on his face. He silently congratulated Chandler for thinking up that one.

"I mean," Chandler said. "Did you need help today?"

Vivi narrowed her eyes at Chandler, opened her mouth then closed it again. Did she lose or win this argument. She wasn't happy however it had worked out. She turned and left his office without further comment.

Basen sulked back to her desk and sat down hard in her chair. She slipped down and started to pout.

"Congratulations on that one boss," Miles was a little proud of Chandler. "Good luck on finding out if she did get anything out of that lout."

Chandler hadn't thought of that, he had just hoped to avoid the fight. He festered on his new problem for a moment and figured Vivi wouldn't be able to hold on to evidence prudent to the case, or could she?

"Perhaps you can talk to her?" Chandler suggested.

"That sounds like a lot of fun" Miles left the DI's office and walked back into the squad room.

Miles walked over to Vivi's desk and sat down.

"You planning to mope around all day or tell us what happened?" Miles probed.

"I'm not moping." Vivi explained not changing her posture.

"We thought you were moping," Mansell said pointing to himself and Kent .

"I don't know why you would think that." Basen said, sitting up in her chair, forced to come out of her slump.

'What did you find out at Richter's place?"

"What did the coroner find?" Vivi said, determined not to answer the other detective's questions until hers were answered. A baby move she knew but was unable to stop herself.

"Well, the injuries to Hardey were consistent with the Mellon girl, only the item used to pierce her heart was sharper and bigger than the knitting needle allegedly used to stab her. Additionally," Miles flipped through the folder Kent handed him. "Hardey ingested some type of barbiturate where they believe Mellon's was injected.

"Injected you say." Basen said nodding as if she expected this.

"You going to tell us what you found out or will we need to kiss your ass some more?"

Vivi smiled slyly but decided to put the older man out of his misery. She reached in her front pant pocket and pulled out a USB drive and tossed it on her desk.

"Richter is a pervert. That's the first thing I found out. He's been spying on his neighbor for as long as she's lived there." She sat up and turned on her computer as she spoke. "Richter spends an exorbitant amount of his time looking up porn and jerking off." The men shifted uncomfortably, only slightly surprised at Basen's blunt speech. She swiped at her hair hanging in her face but made no move to put it back in its original ponytail.

"Bad for anyone who lives in that apartment good for us, because he happened to have a few pics of Mellon and who he believes was her current Mr. Wonderful. He also knew she was pregnant. Found her crying in the laundry room one day and she blabbed her life."

"Must not have had anyone else to talk to if she was talking to that lout." Kent observed.

"What I thought too," she said smiling up at him. Mansell noticed the look and nudged Kent. He knew about the "date" tomorrow and was silently cheering for his friend. Mensell was a consummate heterosexual and noticed how Kent was modeling his behavior after Chandler. He worried this meant he was taking a fancy to the DI and felt a little more comfortable with Kent fancying the new DC than the other alternative.

Chandler had left his office and sat at a desk within earshot but what he hoped out of Basen's sight. He didn't think he should be frightened of his own DC but didn't feel he needed a confrontation today. He hoped to find out himself as to what happened in the apartment.

Vivi inserted the flash drive into her computer and started clicking with her mouse.

"I managed to get copies of his pics from his computer." She explained.

"How'd you do that?" Kent asked.

"It wasn't easy," she went on. "First I had to convince him we wouldn't charge him and his gross ass with anything."

"Why would you do that?" Chandler finally spoke up.

"Because he has pictures from her apartment and from others, and I really didn't feel like waiting to get a court order to find out what he had, so I had to use," she paused, "other methods. I also didn't want to give him time to trash anything he did have."

All were curious but didn't ask what those methods were, although looking at her current appearance made them speculate. Everyone held their breath as she flipped through the pictures she had managed to make off with. Most were just blurry images to fuzzy to make out. Others were different women in various stages of undress. They could make out Gretchen in some, clearly in her apartment. Grainy images continue to flicker on the screen, when she finally stopped on a blurred image of a man and Gretchen walking into her apartment.

"That's got to be him," Miles said. "Any way to clean that up?"

"Don't know, depends on the tech." Kent offered. "If we can we can get it to Hardey's friends and see if they recognize him from their night out."

"What did you find out from them?" Vivi asked Kent and Mansell.

"Not much," Kent started, taking the lead on giving everyone the information he and Mansell found out.

"The group, there were 5 in all, went out to a club called '720'. They don't remember seeing anyone in particular taking to Hardey however they do confess to drinking more than their share of drink. Most of the group lives together about 3 of them, Hardey and another girl, Cindy Winston are the only ones that live alone." Everyone was quiet as they digested all the information they now had.

"DI Chandler?" A new voice spoke up behind them.

"Yes?" Chandler said standing up.

"DSI Stevens," the man introduced himself. "I'm not sure if I've met before."

"No sir, I don't believe so." The two men shook hands. Vivi looked up and scowled. Miles didn't think it was possible but she looked madder now than she had when she stormed into Chandler's office.

"I was interested in seeing how your American Detective was getting on."

"I'm a detective, who happens to be American." Basen corrected and scowled further.

"Of course, my apologies," then to Chandler, "Could I have a word?" Chandler showed Stevens' into his office.

When the two men where in Chandler's office with the door closed Mansell asked Miles,

"You know 'em?"

"Only by reputation," Miles said. "Why he's slumming it here I'll never know.

Kent looked at Vivi. She sat frowning after Chandler and Stevens.

"Do you know him?" Kent asked.

"I have to go." Vivi grabbed the USB and her bag and left the office.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Chandler walked through the market replaying the day's events. He wasn't 100% sure where it went wrong or if it was an entirely wrong day. But he was sure most of the days ills had to do with Vivi Basen, or at least involved her. He began to wonder how often his days ahead would end with thoughts of her.

Joe had been walking the market for almost 10 minutes and had managed nothing more in his basket than a jar of olives. He had considered giving up his attempt tonight and reheat what he had yesterday when he figured he would make a vegetarian meal and headed towards the produce. When he turned the corner and saw her. Vivi Basen was standing in the middle of the produce section in front of a pile of grapefruit. Her hand rested on a package of a kumquats to the left of the fruit. She wasn't looking at either however, Chandler noted, her eyes were focused on a tall gentleman in front of the butcher counter waiting his turn. He was stealing glances back over his shoulder in her direction.

Chandler walked up to her, "Kumquats," he said.

Vivi spun around, taken by surprise, "What the-"

"Your hand," he explained. "You seem to be fingering the kumquats." She looked down at her hands and realized what he was talking about. She moved her hands.

"I wasn't really interested in the produce." She said, shaking her head then looking back to the counter.

"Do you normally come into the market not to shop?"

"I do a little shopping." She smirked and looked over at the butcher counter again.

"Do you know that man?" Vivi looked at Chandler incredulously.

"No," she said shaking her head. "I don't think we are playing for the same team, or more to the point we play for the same team." It was Chandler's turn to look confused.

"Choose your sports metaphor. However you slice it I don't think he is interested in what I have to offer. You may be more his speed." She explained smiling.

"Similar to DSI's interest in you?" Vivi narrowed her eyes at Chandler for the second time that day.

"You know, that shouldn't have happened." She looked around, if Chandler hadn't known better he would have thought she was embarrassed. "My obligations shouldn't reflect on the team."

"What exactly are your obligations?"

She smiled widely, she was tempted to walk away. She wasn't quite comfortable enough with him yet to give that much information about herself. Additionally she didn't feel in necessary to saddle him with her burdens.

Instead she asked, "Is that what you are eating tonight?" looking at the jar of olives in his basket.

"Yes well," he was a little embarrassed and unsure how to explain he was unable to shop because he was thinking of her.

"You'll need to try my Cajun menu." He smiled at her quizzically.

"We'll do this," she took him around the market picking up various items then ended back at his apartment. She worked around the immaculate kitchen while he followed closely behind cleaning anything she put down. She managed to shoo him out of the kitchen when she finally became too tired of having to retrieve yet another ingredient that Chandler had put away.

Chandler walked around feeling almost like a stranger in his own home. He wasn't completely sure how she managed to talk her way back to his apartment and now she was monopolizing his kitchen and refusing him access. He busied himself with setting the table and straightening this and that. He picked up her jacket that she thrown casually over his chair her phone fell out of the pocket. He picked it up and noted the display. The screen was filled with inquiries as to where she was. The originated phone number looked familiar but he was unsure where he had seen it. Curiosity got the best of him and he checked the messages on her phone. Most were one line, and there were only 3 different numbers from what he saw, most if not all were inquires on her were abouts.

"Here," she walked into the dining room with only one plate. He slipped her phone in his pocket.

"You're not eating?"

"I nibble while cooking, one of the perks."

"I can't eat while you stare at me," he complained.

"Well one, you are attractive but not that attractive that I would sit here the entire time staring at you." She put her elbows on the table and propped her chin in her hands and staring at him while she said this. She added a heavy sigh.

"Vivi."

"Fine, I'll get a plate and we will have conversation," She walked back into the kitchen grabbed a plate and joined him in the meal she had prepared.

"I do have a question for you however?"

"I'll answer but you must answer one for me."

"Sure," she said without much conviction. "Who told Stevens' you left me at the scene?"

"I guess I assumed you did." He answered matter of factly.

"I don't need others to fight my battles," she explained.

"Yes, I know that." He looked across the table at her and wondered again how tonight had happened. Not many people made their way into his home and even less were given free rein to his house. "Why did you think he was there about you?"

"We both know the answer to that Chandler, let's not play the pretend game." They continued the dinner without mentioning it again. When finished dinner, Chandler managed to find gelato in the back of his freezer for dessert. He apologized that it wasn't as impressive as her meal.

"So," she continued her story she had started as the cleaned the dinner dishes. They sat in his living room finishing the second bottle of wine. "This guy is standing there covered in coke, $50 grand in cash in a duffle beside his bed, ugliest mother you've ever seen. And I'm thinking, 'if I can't score with him'…" He did what she was startkng to call his "I smell something bad face" a look he gave her a lot.

"Are you serious?" he asked, most of her stories sounded completely unbelievable.

"Don't people tell jokes around you? Don't you know any?" she asked teasing him again.

"They do but," he shook his head at her.

"Fine, I'll remember you have no sense of humor."

"I have one, I guess I just don't get yours," he paused. "Perhaps if I knew a little more about you?" he suggested.

She lost her smile.

"Tell me something about you that I wouldn't have guessed."

"I will if you let do something."

"What," he asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry, it won't be too awful."

"Fine, tell me," he agreed to her terms.

She thought for a moment, trying to decide what he would most likely not believe.

"I was married," she finally decided to confess.

"To a human?" he asked.

"OH! You do have a sense of humor!" she exclaimed.

"On occasion, yes. Divorced?"

"Why, do you think I'm that awful?"

"No, I just understand how difficult it can be to keep a marriage together especially in our line of work."

She nodded agreeing. "Now your turn," she said brightening up. She scooted up next to him on the couch. He was again treated to the pleasure of her soap, her brown eyes wide and staring up at him. He turned a lighter shade of pale as she reached up and placed her hands in his hair. He thought for one crazy moment she was going to kiss him, wondering briefly if it would be a pleasure or a huge mistake. She instead ruffled his hair.

"I think you look better like that," she smiled getting up from the sofa. He was confused at what just happened and stayed rooted to the spot.

"Well sir," she said putting on her jacket. "It's been a wonderful night, hope you enjoyed your dinner. And don't worry, I'm sure you can comb your hair back." She left the apartment with him still frozen on the sofa. He wasn't completely sure what just happened.

Vivi arrived home and expected what she had found. DSI Stevens was sitting in her living room. Remembering he had a key and again regretting she hadn't changed the locks after he asked for it.

"Why so late?" he asked.

"I was shopping," she said curtly and walked in to the kitchen to avoid him.

"You didn't buy anything?" He asked following her.

"Look I'm not really in the mood today." He smiled at her.

"As if you have a choice," he reached out to touch her. She pulled back away from him.

"Vivi," his tone inferred he was speaking to a child.

"Percy," she used his first name, knowing full well he hated it. It appears he was speaking to a child after all.

"I'm here to help you, you know that." He took her into his arms. She hated his condescending tone he adopted when speaking to her. She bore his touch with revolution. For what would not be the last time she regretted the decision to seek his help getting to where she was.

He walked her to the bedroom. Attrition moved her. Under any other circumstance the sex wouldn't have been entirely unpleasant, however she found no pleasure in this act with him.

He left soon after. Being along was a trend she was quickly getting used to. The floor of her bathroom had gotten the most attention of anything else in her house. Most nights you could find her on in this position, laying prone on the floor, paying penance to the porcelain god. As she drifted off to sleep on the cold tile she wondered how different her night would have been if she had stayed at Chandler's apartment.

"Dream on," her inner voice spoke up. "He wouldn't have wanted or let you to stay.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry everyone -** I'm not if anyone was anticipating the next chapters on this and if you were I do apologize for the delay however I was trying to do this in my downtime and lately there hasn't been that much. I have to read through Chapter 11 one more time and then it should be ready to go. If you want to leave a review keep in mind I'm highly sensitive and cannot really take any bad feed back. Thanks for reading, enjoy! **  
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**Chapter 10**

Basen was slouching in her seat, a posture she would normally adopt when sitting at her desk, when Miles came in. Set up at her desk was the print formally hanging in Gretchen's bedroom. Vivi was staring at it, transfixed.

"You're studying that like you're going to write your doctor's thesis on it." Miles commented as his walked into the room.

"My doctor can write his own thesis," she mumbled.

"So what are you hoping to find?" Miles asked standing beside Vivi so he had a view of the picture as well.

"There is something about this picture that is different from the one I was looking at yesterday."

"Oh yeah, what's so different about it?" He had made the same observation she had, cheap print in a cheap frame, there was not much else going on.

"Has Joe made it in yet?" Buchan entered the room with a box overflowing with diagrams and files.

"No not yet." Miles addressed Buchan harshly, he still didn't appreciate the man's presence in the office.

"Ahh," he breathed stopping behind Miles and Basen. "Van Gough's 'Poet's Garden', what a beautiful picture."

Both Basen and Miles glared at Buchan. When Buchan noticed the look he nodded toward the picture.

"You're print there. It's called Poet's Garden by Vincent Van Gough. Of course this doesn't do it justice, you must see the original print," Buchan walked on to a table at the end of the room and began to empty his box. Vivi stared after him, not really sure who he was but sure she wasn't happy with him at all. She turned to her computer and booted it up.

"I'm going to need to know more about it," Vivi explained "Too the internet," she announced.

"What are you hoping to find out?" Miles asked. Vivi shrugged.

"That Gretchen had the original print in her home and someone came back for it," she suggested. "No maybe that she was killed for it."

"And what, Lynne Hardey had the Mona Lisa?" Miles scoffed. Vivi stuck her tongue out at him but he had already turned to walk to his desk.

"Coffee?" Kent asked setting a paper cup in front of Vivi.

"Thanks," she said perking up. "Hey, you wanna go clubbing later on?" Kent flushed bright crimson.

"For the case Kent," Vivi said, trying to alleviate the younger detective's embarrassment. "You talked to the friends now it's time to go to the club they went too. See if the bartender or waitress or anyone else remembers them."

"Oh, then certainly." Kent said looking a little relieved.

Chandler arrived in the office looking harried. His razor had missed several spots on his face, his normally immaculate appearance looked as if he dressed in the dark. He barely breathed hello to the office before he quickly made for his office.

"Joe," Buchan called. "I have a few things I wanted to show you."

The little man tried to follow Chandler into his office but was shut out. Buchan fussed for a few moments unsure how to handle the current turn of events. Normally Joe and his team sought his assistance on a regular basis, but now more and more he had been left on his own with his files. While Buchan appreciated the solitude – if you can't enjoy your own company, who's can you enjoy – he worried he was no longer useful to any investigation. His rational mind tried to insist he was being paranoid but still.

Miles watched as the strange little man packed up his box of tricks again. Miles was never particularly fond of Buchan but felt a little bad at Chandler's treatment of him. Miles got up from his desk and walked into Chandler's office not bothering to knock.

"What's up boss?" Miles asked closing the door behind him to give them some sense of privacy, although the glass walls and door didn't offer much.

Chandler was more agitated the normal. Out came the tiger balm, he rubbed it on his temples, rubbed his hands together. He fixed the paperwork on his desk, shifted in his seat, massaged his forehead, ran his fingers through his hair, stopped looked at Miles, and then ran through the routine once more.

"Take your time," Miles offered. "It's not like we had that much to do today.

Chandler sighed heavily, leaned over his desk, sat back, and with a trembling hand took Vivi's phone out of his pocket and handed it to his DS. Miles took the phone asked,

"What's this?"

"Basen's phone."

"How'd you get it?"

"She, it was left over my apartment."

"Your apartment, how did it get there?" Miles started to raise his voice. Chandler gave him a panicked looked encouraging Miles to lower his voice.

"She came over last night."

"So let me get this straight, practically the most notorious DC in the department is at your place and you steal her phone?" Miles sat down hard in the chair letting out a heavy breath as he did so.

"That's not the worst," Chandler confessed. "Read it." Chandler said handing Miles the phone.

Miles scrolled through the messages on Basen's phone, eyes growing wide in disbelief with every flip of his thumb.

"She doesn't know you have this?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Chandler confessed. "She walked into the room when I was reading the phone. I panicked and ended up putting it in my pocket."

"She didn't notice it missing when she left?" He quizzed.

"No," Chandler answered, combing his hair with his fingers.

"Did she leave in a rush this morning?"

Chandler's fingers suddenly stopped mid run through. "I didn't sleep with her." He said shocked

Miles raised his eyebrows at Chandler. He felt he had known Joe for a good number of years and could believe Chandler, but he was also aware men could make stupid mistakes. He himself almost had a regretful evening, or two.

"Miles, I'm not stupid. I have a little better sensibility than to sleep with one of my detectives." Miles made note that Chandler didn't completely rule out sleeping with Basen or the fact that he didn't want to. Chandler started his fidget dance again and Miles tossed the phone on the desk. He didn't like having the phone in his hands. He wasn't sure if it was because of the text messages or because of the owner of the phone.

"So what do you plan on doing?"

"A vacation sounds about right." Chandler replied. Miles smirked and left his office.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Basen, come on." Miles said to her. "I may know someone who can help us with that picture."

"Great," she said getting up from her desk. "I think I was going cross eyed."

On the drive to the gallery Miles explained. "My wife's cousin owns a gallery not too far from here. Now he may not be there but I'm sure we can get someone to help us with your picture you seem so fascinated with." They drove in silence for a while when Miles spoke again.

"So, you, you had dinner with Joe last night?" he tried to make it sound casual but wasn't sure if he was successful or not.

"Joe? Oh yeah, I ran into him at the market. He ruined my night so I decided to return the favor. Impressed him with my blacken Cajun chicken," she said raising her eyebrows and nudging Niles. Then she added in a lowered voice. "It's just regular chicken but I burned it, voila it's blacken chicken!"

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"I didn't really burn it." She confessed.

"That's not what I'm talking about," he said.

"What then?"

"Right now no one knows you. There are too many rumors still being thrown around about you, what happened in the states and what you did to get here, I don't think it would be a good thing right now you getting too close to your DI."

"Well one," she started turning towards him and putting her hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate you listening to and perpetuating the rumors about me. It fills my heart that you have already come to a decision about me." She removed her hand and turned her attention to the front of the car. "One would think Chandler is the safest bet of anyone for me to talk to."

"Why would that be?" he inquired.

"Um, since he's so gay," she stated.

"He isn't gay," Miles calmly stated.

"Yeah he is." She insisted.

"Chandler says he's not and that's that."

"Whatever."

"Not whatever, you stay clear of Chandler."

"I supposed I should steer clear of Kent as well? And Mansell? Can I talk to Riley or only under supervision least we start any lesbian rumors. Should you and I have a chaperone or do you think we are safe to be here together today?"

"You're taking it the wrong way," he protested.

"How should I be taking it?" she asked.

"Look, we're here."

"Yes let's get this over with so I can go back molesting little children, school should be letting out soon." She hurried out of the car but stopped short of storming off since she wasn't exactly sure where they were going.

"It's just up here," he pointed. He tried to lighten the mood and added, "It may be a good idea that you don't hang around Mansell, more for your protection than his." She smiled and resumed and easy peace.

They entered a nondescript building. Vivi hugged the sweater around her, lumpy black today, as temperature seemed to have dropped 20 degrees inside. As they stepped inside they were greeted by a receptionist sitting behind a glass desk, leaning over the desk was a thin blond close at her elbow.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Yeah," Miles said taking the lead. "We wanted to talk to Victor Adams."

The receptionist gave Miles and Vivi a similar look that Chandler gave her on occasion, the 'what is that smell' look, the tall blond matched it.

"I'm afraid Mr. Adams is not in today," the blond spoke up. "Perhaps I can help you, Claire Spint." She said pointing to herself but made no move to shake either detective's hand.

"DS Ray Miles, DC Vivi Basen." Miles said flatly. He also made no attempt to shake hands. He didn't think this visit would be a fruitful one.

"Yes," Basen spoke up. "We were hoping to inquire about a painting." Vivi never tried an English accent she was sure she would fail miserably however it made her feel self-important when she threw in what she felt were "British" words. It would be months before someone would tell her she sounded ridiculous.

"What painting would that be?" Claire asked.

"Poet's Garden." Miles said. Both woman stiffened, the blond was able to recover more quickly than the receptionist however both detectives caught it.

"What a beautiful peace." Spint said. "You're in luck we haven't packed it up just yet."

"What do you mean?" Miles asked.

The blond motioned for them to follow her, "I'm afraid it's in the back not one of the pieces we keep out for general observation. The owner who has lent it to us has asked for it back."

"Why did he do that?" Basen asked.

"He just explained he was feeling nostalgic for it and wanted it returned. Here we are." They all stopped in front of the familiar print. And thin but long box along with packing material was off to the side of the picture. Basen felt this painting held more familiarity than the cheap print she had next to her desk.

"How long has it been on loan?"

"We've had it for 6 or 7 years now."

"Always back here?" they asked.

"Not the entire time but for a good portion of it." Vivi stepped up to the picture and reached out to it.

"Don't touch it," Spint said surprised. Vivi's hand froze in midair. She looked at the curator out of the corner of her eye, and then touched the picture. Miles shook his head, Basen made no sense.

There's no glass covering it?" Basen asked.

"There doesn't need to be," Claire ran over to the picture and scrutinized the place where Vivi's finger had made contact. "The temperature in this building it carefully controlled."

"Who owns the painting?" Miles asked quickly knowing they were going to quickly loose the person who was giving them the information.

"Dr. Ronald Block," she quickly answered.

"Do you know him?" Vivi inquired

"No." Claire answered this a little too quickly.

"His art has been here for over 6 years and you know his name, however you don't know him?" Basen accused.

"As I said, he did just contact us to retrieve the picture." Basen didn't believe her and neither did Miles.

"We'd like to get the contact number for Mr. Bach."

"Dr. Block," Spint corrected. "I will get that for you." She turned and walked back the way they came.

"You just can't help yourself can you?" Miles questioned.

"Some say I'm incorrigible. Others say I'm insatiable." She took one more look back at painting before leaving. That was the picture in Mellon's home, she was sure of it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Back in the car Miles took a call. When he was done he turned to Vivi and explained, "We have another."

"Murder?"

"Yeah, we're not too far, won't take but a minute to get there. They tried to call you but couldn't get you," he thought the sincerity in his voice sounded fraudulent but it appeared Vivi didn't notice.

"My phone's missing," she said, bringing out her seemingly endless supply of lip balm and smoothing it on.

"How'd you lose your phone?"

"I didn't lose it," she said sharply. "Someone took it."

"Who would steal the phone?"

"Not steal it, he took it and when I get my hands on the slimey slime ball, I'm going to take that crappy sack he calls his balls and shove them so far up his-." Miles gaped at her. "Figuratively of course" she said untwisting her hands and smoothing them on the legs of her pants. "But if Percy thinks last night will have an encore performance he's outta his mind." She continued to go on but Miles breathed a silent sigh of relief. She hadn't figured it was Chandler who took the phone and she hadn't slept with him. He wasn't sure what was more of a relief. Sometimes he questioned Chandler's resolve. Opportunities for companionship had presented themselves on more than one occasion but it appeared the younger man was happier being on his own rather than change his ways.

Another thought rolled into Miles' mind, Vivi's remark about 'Percy and an encore performance', however Miles didn't get an opportunity to complete it since they arrived on the scene.

Miles scanned the crowd while Vivi spoke to a uniformed officer. No familiar faces that he remembered seeing at any other scenes but of course more than half of the crowd had their cell phones out taking pictures and video. He would never understand the public's obsession in a crime scene or those who gather around a burning building. What were they hopping for blood and gore or just happy it wasn't happening to them he'd never know. Guessed it was a little of both though.

They entered the building together their new scene was down a flight of small narrow stairs. The corner was close behind them. Miles let Caroline look over the body and silently went around the apartment with Vivi.

"No Rembrandt's," he remarked to Vivi.

"It may be in the back," Vivi answered. "Perhaps next to the Renoir's."

After about 10 minutes the rest of the team arrived. Chandler looked a little better but still appeared as if he had shaved with his left hand.

"Well," the coroner said to get the rooms attention. "Looks similar to the others, same stab wound to the heart, suffocation and needle marks on her hip, we won't know until the blood work comes back if she was drugged or not but I would bet on that. And we will have to review to confirm the size of the wound"

"She looks a little different than the others as well." Miles said.

"Yeah she really doesn't seem the same type does she?" Vivi concurred.

Dr. Llewellyn agreed, "She certainly is a little different, she's a little taller and heavier than the other girls. She actually reminds me of you Basen." The coroner pointed up to Vivi. "She has the same coloring, similar hair."

"I don't have nearly as many tattoos as that." They're latest victim along with baring a striking resemblance to Vivi had at least 5 piercings in each ear and multiple tattoos along each arm.

"YOU have tattoos?" Kent asked surprised.

"Technically just one but, yeah." Everyone's interest was piqued.

"Where is it?" Mansell asked.

"Seriously, we have a dead body and the most interesting thing is my tattoo?"

"At the moment, yeah," Mansell asked again. "Where is it?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure we can think of conversation more relevant to the case at hand." Chandler called his detectives to order. Mansell eyed Basen and again mouthed 'Where is it?' one last time before Chandler instructed him to speak to the neighbors.

"Thanks," Vivi said placing an appreciative hand on Chandler's shoulder. He quickly ducked away from her and walked over to the dead woman.

"Do you think he's changed typed?" Kent asked.

"Not really typical MO to change right in the middle of it." Miles said.

"Maybe he forgot he had a type." Vivi offered. "Hopefully she's the last."

Vivi chose not to think about it but everyone in the room speculated to the fact that the new dead woman bore a striking resemblance to DC Basen.

"What's the name?" Chandler asked hoping to make a new subject.

"Carissa Beard, 32, dead about 10 hours before she was found by her flat mate." Caroline filled in for Chandler.

"Her flat mate a one Carissa Banes, coincidence on the same first name, came home about 10:30 discovered Beard's body and called the police. I'll go and talk to her." Vivi offered. Chandler was acting more odd than usual and she felt it was better if she were somewhere else.

"Sure," Chandler said not looking at his detective. Vivi noticed this recent turn of events and wondered what caused it. Was he that strange about his hair? Vivi walked into the bedroom where the roommate was placed.

Chandler walked over to Miles. "Did you discover anything at the gallery?" he asked.

"Not much, but we have a name and we're going to talk to the owner of the painting."

"Good, maybe it's better you spent some time doing that. You should take Kent with you."

"She's not going to appreciate that, being left out you know?" Miles said.

"Yes but if his type has changed, I worry the new object could be the one he can't have."

Miles nodded motioned to Kent and they left the apartment.

Chandler waited for Vivi. The body was removed and the tech team finished processing the scene. Chandler dismissed all but 2 of the officers and quietly sat waiting for Vivi to reappear. When she finally did she and the witness walked out of the bedroom as if they were old friends. If Chandler hadn't known better he would have thought the young woman was smiling.

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing just let her talk. You'd be surprised at how many people just want to talk to someone."

"Did you at least learn something useful?"

"Not really," she confessed. "Although I'm pretty sure we have the password to her computer."

"Do you think it will be helpful?"

"If she knew her attacker, maybe" The detectives found the small lap top in the corner of Carissa's room turned it on and scrolled through. They found her profile page which had routine updates from the victim.

"It looked as if she updated her profile even when she wasn't connected to her computer." Vivi noted. They also quickly scanned the emails which held more spam than anything else. The best they could confirm was she was going out with friends the night she was killed.

"They didn't find her phone did they?"

"No."

"Makes me wonder where it is and if he took it, possible she could have gotten pictures of our mysterious stranger. Well, I guess it's worth a shot, she looks like a shutter bug." Vivi said this more to herself than to Chandler.

"What is worth a shot?

"You can have your phone auto upload your pictures so once you are in a WiFi connection you can view them on the computer." Vivi explained. "If she turned it on you can see it." Vivi quickly checked through programs on the victim's computer. She found the folder for pictures and opened it. They concentrated on the most recent photos. They could see Carissa and another girl standing in line at a club, you could only see a glowing 7 but they figured it was 720 the same their other dead girl visited.

"That's where we need to be." Chandler whispered.

"Then I guess I know what we are doing tonight, get out your glitter."

"What's that one?" Chandler asked leaning over Vivi. He touched his finger on the screen at a picture that showed the girls at the bar. Carissa's friend had even more piercings than her friend and neither really matched the dress of the other patrons of the bar.

"One of these things is not like the other," Vivi considered.

"Can you make him clearer?" Chandler again leaned over Vivi and again touched the screen, this time his finger touched on a figure standing just in back of the girls looking at them intently.

"One, stop touching the screen." Vivi groaned. "Two possibly, but this isn't that kind of program, you want it really nice we need to take it to the lab and then we could also compare it to the one from Captain Creepy Pants' computer. How long it will take is a question only the lab can tell us. These aren't the greatest pictures. I mean you can tell someone is looking at Carissa and her friend in this one but is that the same guy from Mellon's apartment? Every time I try to recall the guy who attacked me it comes up all gray." Vivi had been beating herself up since the attack. She felt like an idiot for getting the shit kicked out of her and even more for not being able to recall any details about her attacker other than the fact that he kicked her ass. Chandler insisted no one had passed him in the hall when he had arrived. Two of the best eyewitnesses, Vivi and Riley, couldn't remember enough of the suspect to be of any help.

"Can you print this picture?" Chandler asked putting a hand on Vivi's shoulder. He hadn't blamed either detective he was just appreciative neither was seriously injured.

Vivi printed the picture inside the bar and another showing a better of their latest victim.

"We need to get to that club."


	13. Chapter 13

OK here are a few more. I've been reading back through my attempts at earlier chapters and appreciate all those who continue to read even though this has been horribly edited. I was thinking of getting these read through but figured why break a trend. Thanks for listening!

Chapter 13

Vivi was already in front of Club 920 when Chandler arrived. She was wearing darker makeup than the previous night. A short mini skirt was lost somewhere under a large charcoal grey t-shirt she was wearing, or at least Chandler hoped it was. She was also on a pair of platform heels that put her up almost to his height, it was a shock to see her so tall.

"Are you ready?" he asked, choosing for the moment to ignore her attire.

"Are you wearing a sweater?" She put up a hand to stop him from going past her into the club.

"What?"

"Is that a sweater VEST?" She shook her head in disbelief. "Who wears a sweater vest to a club? Who even still makes sweater vests? Where in the world would you get a sweater vest?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Chandler stroked the front of his vest self-consciously.

"You realized we are going into a dance club, right?"

"Yes but-" he tried to argue

"No, no, no, no!" she screamed and pushed him off to the side of the clue into a dimly lit alley.

"Take off your shirt" she ordered. He wasn't sure where she was headed with this but she started to take off her own shirt. He paused a moment but did as he was ordered. As he took off his shirt dh stole glances toward her while she undressed. She wore a black lace bra that barely contained her breasts that he tried not to notice but it was nearly impossible. He again wondered how this woman continued to get him to do things he didn't normally do, or things he wouldn't have dreamed of doing.

Once her shirt was off, she waited in the cold while he finished taking off his own. She grabbed his button down shirt and sweater out of his hands and replaced it with her shirt.

"Put that on." She ordered him again. He did as he was told and watched as she put on his white shirt. It didn't fit her at all but she managed to roll the sleeves and tuck and tie the shirt tails so by the time she was done it actually looked like she had walked out of the house with it on. He quickly put on her t-shirt. When he finished she pulled his head violently forward and ruffled her fingers through is hair yet again. He tried to protest but she silenced him with a sharply placed hush.

Once she was done, she pushed him away from her and scrutinized her work. She waited a beat then smiled broadly, apparently pleased with his appearance.

"You should wear tight fitting shirts more often," she mused. She ran a hand over this chest and abs to distract the fact she threw his sweater behind the dumpster. "You look halfway presentable. Maybe now we can get some information." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the club after her.

The sound inside was deafening. Even if they could find someone who saw the girls he doubted they would ever be able to hear them confirm it. Vivi, not dropping his hand took the lead and quickly maneuvered them through the club over to the bar that was set in the far back corner. She waited for a moment but found an opening and slipped swiftly into a space at the bar, pulling Chandler up behind her. He was continuously pushed and smashed into her but she seemed not to notice.

"How are we supposed to hear anything, it's so loud in here?" He leaned down to scream this in her ear.

"No one talks in a club!" she screamed back. She stretched into him to scream this in his ear. Because she was so close her breath tickled at his neck. He shook his head back and forth to clear the feeling. He was still unsure how this was going to play out, when the bartender came up to them. Joe was about to decline a drink when he looked down to Vivi and saw a huge smile on spread across her face.

She practically crawled on top of the bar, the bartender met her and they kissed. The length and passion of the kiss indicated to Chandler she was very familiar with him. He shifted uneasily next to her while he waited, silently wishing he was somewhere else. After they broke the kiss Basen produced the pictures of their suspect, Carissa Beard, Lynne Hardy even their original victim Gretchen Mellon. The bartender nodded a Carissa, shrugged at Hardy but didn't remember Mellon. He took the picture of the suspect to review it closer. After a moment of close examination he gave it back to Basen with a shake of his head. Basen asked something of the bartender which Chandler believed was an inquiry if any of the other employees would. The bartender confirmed it might be true. Vivi then turned to Joe.

"Well I've got bad news and not so good news," she said. She manage to hike herself up on a bar stool and knelt on it, making herself taller than Joe. She placed her hand on his shoulder to keep herself balanced and leaned closed to his ear to explain.

"Looks like I didn't have to tart you up at all, I know Adnan and he would have talked to us regardless of what you walked in here wearing. Anyway, he recognized Carissa because of the tats, not the normal clientele here, she's been in a few times. Lynne may be a familiar face but to generic to tell. No go on Gretchen. The man looks vaguely familiar to Adnan but he can't be sure." She paused to give his ear a break, then added, "He wasn't here last night, another bartender was, he'll get her number for us." She stopped shouting in his ear again and scanned the crowded club.

Chandler worried she was done and turned to look at her at the same time she turned back to say something to him again. They bumped noses and their lips were dangerously close. There was a pregnant pause as they looked at each other. He could feel her warm breath on his lips. He didn't move and silently wished someone would bump him again to put him in motion. Either towards her or away from her, he didn't care which. Kissing her would be a mistake, but it was a mistake he was willing, wanting to make. It had been so long since he had the sensation of someone's lips on his. Morgan's face ran through his mind but he pushed it away. That memory stayed just out of reach, close enough to pull it out if needed but far enough back where it could get lost in other memories. Chandler was brought back to the present when Vivi grabbed his chin and turned him hard forward facing again.

"I have to pee!" she screamed. "Stay right here. Don't talk to anyone or you'll never get rid of them." She left him with his orders and jumped down from the stool not waiting for a response. This was the second time his lips were on or near hers and it was getting frustrating. His lips were the last thing she needed to think about. He was quickly becoming another problem she was going to need to fix. She was aggravated Miles had debunked her gay theory. Something she was holding on to with both hands and didn't want to let go. She felt better if Chandler was gay, safer.

She walked to the rest room mumbling under her breath. A black curtain separated the main club from this back room area. Vivi walked through a thin hallway that opened up to a large common area littered with trash, bottles, miscellaneous furniture and people. The walls in the hallway and common area were painted black with luminescent paint designs swirled through they lit the area with a black light, giving everyone a strange glow. No one was safe from its harsh effects. The shirt Basen stole from Chandler was completely white which made her glow like a brilliant light bulb.

She looked around and saw couples and threesomes were scattered throughout, groups huddled together, and Vivi loathe thinking exactly what they are doing. Something she would most likely be doing if she wasn't here with Chandler.

The woman's room was on one side and the men's room on another between them both was a closed door that Vivi assumed was a utility closet or something. An 'Employees only' sign was hanging on the door. She entered the bathroom and remembered why going to the bathroom at a club as always a bad idea. The number of women standing in front of the mirrors seemed double that of the club. She had to push through a group of women who seemed on the verge of a fight to get to the stalls. She managed to quickly use the rest room, wash her hands and leave.

When she walked out, she casually glanced over and noticed the supply door open. Curiosity drove her to walk over and inspect it. She assumed unless it was locked they would have been unable to keep anyone out looking for a piece of privacy, although she doubted privacy was a concern to many of the patrons. She slowly pushed the door open more and stuck her head in. The moment she did she was pushed from behind into the dark room, she lost her balance and stumbled in. It was crowded with various supplies for the club, extra chairs and a few tables were pushed up against one wall and additional supplies filled a shelf on the other side.

Vivi found her footing and turned to see her attacker, her hand immediately went to her hip and again came back empty. The only light came from the glowing hallway, she was too far into the room to make the same impression with her shirt she did when she had been directly under the lights but it glowed enough where she wouldn't have been able to use the darkness as any type of cover. The best she could tell is he was about 6'2" as tall if not taller than Chandler, his skin glowed a dark blue but she didn't think he was Caucasian. His hair was shaved incredibly close to his scalp. He was one of those men who shaved since they were balding or nearly near it anyway.

"What hell man!" She screamed. His only reaction was a smile that she found sickening. He stepped forward towards her, she kicked out but missed the mark she was looking for and managed to only catch his thigh. He faltered a little but continued to advance. She was ready for him this time and blocked the first punch he attempted but his next caught her in the stomach and the wind was knocked out of her. She went down to her knees. When he bent down to her, she brought her head up suddenly and made contact with his nose. He stumbled backwards cartwheeling his arms for balance. Before he could recover she rushed him pushing him hard up against the door. The door shook from their combined weight. He pushed her off but Vivi managed to rake her nails across his scalp and face leaving to generous gouges in the skin.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The moment Vivi left Chandler's side a short unattractive redhead slipped next to Joe. She tried to get the DI's attention but for the moment he was again focused on Vivi. Chandler was dumbfounded by everything that continued to happen since the American walked into his office. He hated her when she first arrived, but couldn't find the same feelings now. Although since she's arrived he been bossed around, yelled at and insulted. He was unsure why he continued to take her abuse, however not all of it was abuse was it? The other night although not completely sure of his role waiting for dinner to be made, he hadn't been completely uncomfortable had he? After she had left he toyed with the thought she would come over again. Vivi Basen was the most confusing person he had ever met and would continue to perplex him.

The redhead finally managed to get his attention but the noise in the club made it impossible to hear even if he had wanted to talk to her. He was politely trying to tell her to go away when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The bartender was behind him, in his hand he held a small folded piece of paper.

"The number for Cherry, she was working last night she might know your guy." Chandler reached for the number, but Adnan held it fast. "You're not her type," he said flatly.

Chandler was at first confused as to what the man was talking about. He looked at the redhead who had found someone else to harass, then he realized he must be referring to Basen. "Oh, we're not together." Chandler tried to reassure the bartender.

"You're not her type." Adnan reiterated. He continued to hold Chandler's gaze making him increasingly uncomfortable. Was he threatening Joe, he couldn't be sure? Chandler jerked the piece of paper out of the bartender's hand. He turned and left the bar area to find Vivi. He couldn't be sure but the club population seemed to have doubled in size since he had turned around. He wasn't nearly as adapt as Vivi for weaving around the mass of people. He also realized he wasn't exactly sure where she went.

He was about to go back to the bar when he saw someone open a curtain that lead to the bathrooms and assumed she went there. He walked the corridor into the back, the music could be heard back here as well but not as severe. He was distracted by the intensity of the glowing path. He reached the common area and realized he couldn't go into the lady's room to find her. Chandler stopped and stood looking towards the woman's room when he heard the thud on the door in front of him despite the throbbing bass of the music. He could see the cheap door shake in its frame. Chandler raised his eyebrows, he couldn't imagine his DC would be behind the closed door however he felt it was worth looking, he was eager to leave since the had what they needed. He was about to knock when he released the ridiculousness of such an idea. Whoever was in the room wouldn't hear his polite attempt at an interruption. Chandler pushed on the door expecting resistance but was met with none. He entered the room and took a moment to process what he was seeing.

Vivi was in trapped in a vice like bear hug but a man who Chandler felt looked more like their suspect than Vivi had. She was facing out towards Chandler, the perp had a massive hand over Vivi's face and somehow had managed to pen Basen's hands and arms behind her back. Basen thrashed against him but he managed to keep a tight hold on her.

"Put her down," Chandler ordered, as he did a sickening pop as her shoulder dislocated again could be heard. Vivi slumped like a rag doll in the tall man's arms. He still held on to her in a strangled embrace. Chandler extended his arm and splayed his hand in a universal stop sign.

Chandler imagined if the roles were reversed, Vivi would have her gun pointed at the suspect. Most likely would have shot him as well. But for now, they were in a bizarre standoff. The man who was most likely the killer they have been looking for, at the moment had the DI at an advantage. The suspect was using his new DC quite effectively as a human shield, while Chandler ran through a million scenarios on how to get her out of harms way and the suspect in custody.

Before arriving at the club they had briefly discussed back up or including Miles, Kent or even Mansell, but Basen convinced him because of the type and capacity of the club that the two of them could do it faster and easier. Of course now, hind sight was 20/20 and it would not be a mistake they would make again. But for now their options were limited.

Chandler still held the man's gaze. Then notice the change ten seconds too late. He managed to throw Vivi in an odd one armed toss. She fell into Chandler, he half caught half dropped her. He struggled to hold on to her as the suspect ran out of the room. Chandler weighed his options, dropped Vivi and followed him. The suspect's height worked to Chandler's advantage he was able to keep him in sight all the way to the front door but was unable to draw any attention from the security staff to have anyone to stop him. Chandler asked the bouncer if he noticed which way he went once he managed to get to the door, the bouncer was no help, Chandler instructed him to call the police and went back to Vivi.

Vivi was still on the floor where he had dropped her. He ran over to her, picked her head up and placed it in his lap. Her eyes fluttered as he wiped the perspiration off her brow.

"Did you drop me on the floor?" she managed weakly.

"Yes, I'm afraid I did."

"Remind me to lick your pencils when we get back to the office." She shifted and screamed in pain. "You know, I'm getting really tired of getting beat up by that guy." He laughed and touched her fore head again.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The house lights of the club were up and it was a stark contrast from how it first looked when Chandler and Basen arrived. Most of the patrons had scattered like vampires exposed to the daylight. Those who stuck around after the police had come, were disappointed there was no 'blood and guts' to view. What remained now were a few patrons too drunk or stoned to realize the party was over and emergency personnel. Chandler insisted the bartenders, wait staff and security stay and the owners had arrived as well.

Miles had finished arguing with Chandler about the foolishness of tonight's actions. He and Basen should have never been here without some type of back up. He argued telling Chandler he should know this and he also spoke for the entire team when he further explained no one should have been left out of tonight's 'field trip'. Miles made a silent reprimand to Basen, he mumbled under his breath how he had just reminded her that day she wasn't to be alone with Chandler. He had finished with them and was now arguing with the owners over their security tapes, they insisted the tapes were on a loop and would be of no assistance. Miles explained how the police would review the tapes and decide what was relevant. He was getting a little tired of yelling tonight. He was beginning to think his was the only voice of reason.

Vivi had found a friend with the paramedics, they happened to be the same that tended to her wounds from the day before. Chandler looked over at his DC surprised at how quickly she bounced back. He wouldn't have thought any of the last half hour events had happened. The detective had an easy rapport with the EMT's, he assumed they put anyone and everyone at ease to treat them. He also reasoned with this being the second time in as many days they had seen her a bit of familiarity was expected.

Kent was moving around the small storage room, and if anyone asked he would say he was gathering evidence however, although he would never had admitted to it, he was pouting. He and Basen were scheduled to visit this club. He felt if he had been there, they would have their suspect in custody and Basen wouldn't be in the same position now that she was in the other night. Of course he couldn't know that, an hour earlier or later and they could have missed the suspect completely. However the fact that he was exchanged for Chandler on this particular outing wasn't sitting well in his mind. Plus he wasn't 100% sure but thought they were wearing each other's clothes. He decided to test his theory.

"Sir?" Kent asked.

"What is it Kent?" Chandler said distractedly, not bothering to turn around to face the younger detective.

"Um, it's just, um,"

"Ask your question Kent." Chandler snapped.

"Whose shirt is that?" Kent asked flatly. Kent was familiar with almost everything his DI wore, today was a rare exception. A t-shirt wasn't Joe's normal attire and tight fitting shirt was almost unheard of.

"Yes well," Chandler ran his hands down the front of the shirt. "Basen apparently felt what I was wearing before wasn't conducive to the investigation and felt a change in dress would be appropriate."

Kent watched as Chandler's hands smoothed the front of the shirt. He appreciated the way the fabric hugged the older man's form and wonder if that was included in the list of reasons Basen had him change.

"Does that include your hair?" Kent asked.

"Yes," he cleared his throat. "Well again." Chandler didn't finish this thought, he ran distracted fingers through his hair trying to smooth it down and walked away from his younger detective.

Kent looked over at Basen and was confused at exactly what he felt toward the new DC. He had been initially impressed by the American detective. She had impressed everyone and even though he wouldn't have initially admitted it, Kent thought she also impressed Chandler. His feelings over the next few days however had soured. News about the American detective spread fast, some of the rumors concerned him and although he did have to remind himself they were that, just rumors, it was difficult to get past some of them since they had a ring of truth around them.

A rolling whisper spread through the personnel at the scene. Kent looked over and saw DSI Stevens had arrived. He walked immediately over to Basen. Few words were said, nothing could be heard clearly but fingers were pointed and Vivi tried to get up but the paramedics held her back. The look on the man's face was accusing. He poked at her misshapen arm. Vivi howled in pain and cradled it. Stephens seemed pleased that he inflected pain at first but then his expression turned soft. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. Vivi hung her head lower as she listed to him. He turned and started to walk away from her. Basen grabbed at the Superintendent's sleeve but he pulled away from her. The argument started again. The exchange was almost comical. No words could be heard coming from either but everyone could tell it was a heated. She made one last grab at him, put her head down sighed heavily then nodded. He smiled like a child who just got their way, put a hand on Basen's sore arm again and stroked it. She flinched away from him, but it no longer mattered, whatever the man wanted from Vivi he managed to get it. Stephens stepped away from Vivi and walked towards Chandler. Miles, Mansell and Kent crowded around Chandler. They may have been sore at being left out of tonight's events however they still held a loyalty to their DI.

"DI Chandler,"

"DSI Stephen's, what can I do for you today?"

"Perhaps you can let me know what happened tonight."

"We gathered some vital information regarding the recent murders and encountered the suspect. We have a favorable description of the suspect between Basen and I and we feel we should have him apprehended shortly." Stephens ran a careful eye over Chandler.

"You expect me to believe this was a plan of yours?"

"Not a plan of sorts but the result was favorable." Chandler put his hand out in a universal 'there you go' gesture along with a shrug of his shoulders. "We have a beneficial resolution.

"And you believe an injured DC is a benefit?" Stephen's asked.

"Of course that was not intended. The suspect surprised us both."

"Why wasn't the rest of your team here?" He asked there was a heavy condescending tone in his voice.

"They were otherwise engaged, however Basen and I discussed this evening's events before coming here and we didn't feel involving unnecessary personnel would have helped, Basen made a compelling argument that two people could inconspicuously integrate themselves into," Stephen's waived Chandler off. He wasn't interested in the explanation and was about to say something when Basen walked up to the group.

"The paramedics have dismissed me and if you no longer need me here I'm going home." She explained to Chandler. Her arm was wrapped in another sling.

"I'll make sure you get there." Stephen's had meant the comment to sound authoritative but it came out sounding creepy.

"We'll see you in the morning then?" Miles asked.

"I'm a Weeble," she said. "I wobble but I won't fall down." No one got the joke she attempted. "Look, I kill in the states, everyone would be rolling on the floor." She started to walk away but Chandler stopped her.

"Basen"

"Yeah?" she said turning around.

He closed the gap between them reached in his pocket and produced her phone. "I thought you might want this back."

"You had it!" she squealed.

"How did you get her phone?" Stephens asked. Chandler was prepared to tell the truth, well a part of it anyway, when Vivi spoke up.

"Thanks, but I'm still licking your pencils tomorrow, this seals it." She quickly walked away with Stephens' running behind her to catch up.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"You're here early," Chandler said as he walked into the office. Vivi jumped in her seat.

"You surprised me," she said turning around smiling. She put it away when she saw his face drop.

"You didn't get that last night?" he half asked half stated as he pointed to her eye. The area underneath her eye was swollen and the eye itself was blood shot. He didn't remember her leaving the club with a black eye however it could have developed later.

"Yes well," she said shrugging and turning back to her computer. Her normal disheveled appearance was even more so today. Her hair was swept up but barely held with a pencil or pen of some sort. The tight red cardigan sweater was misbuttoned and the pants she wore were wrinkled.

"Are you all right?" Joe asked. Vivi waved him off.

"Yeah, I just wanted to get in here and see if I could use the software to ID our perp and get a match. I'm an incredible optimist and hope he'll be in the system with a most up to date and recent address and he'll be sitting at home waiting for us to pick him up." She was currently clicking through different versions of eyes.

"You look worse than usual." He said

"Aw, you noticed." She said dreamily.

He never seemed to say the right things around her. He had meant to sound concerned but it always seemed to come out as an insult.

"You don't have to be here, you can rest."

"We have 3 dead women, I couldn't rest even if I wanted to."

Her conviction was admirable. It would have been easy for her to sit out, being attacked twice in as many days would knocked the wind out of many men's sails.

"Vivi," Joe bent down next to her. "Is there something, is… are you in trouble?" he asked.

"If I was it's just a temporary thing." She said dismissively. Joe placed a gentle hand on her arm careful not to put too much pressure on it. Vivi reluctantly turned to look at him.

"I'm serious." He said.

"Don't worry about me Joe,"

"Perhaps if you gave me some more information I would better understand your situation." Chandler remarked off handedly. The longer he knew his new DC the less he actually knew about her. Chandler wasn't typically comfortable delving deeper into the personal lives of his coworkers. He had acquaintances and could hold conversations but Joe himself was a guarded man and felt if he found out too much information about someone he would have to give out something about himself that he wasn't willing to let go. It was much easier to keep someone at arm's length than to let them in any closer. He found Vivi to be the same way. Although she had an easy air of friendliness they still knew little about her other than the rumors that continued to swirl about her and her past.

"What did you want to know Chandler?" She asked turning to him. There was a smile on her lips that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"What do you owe to Stephens?"

"A debt of gratitude." She stated. Chandler looked at her refusing to break her gaze until she answered his questions truthfully and without the snide comments.

"It was my understanding that the wonderful life of a DI wasn't going to be your last stop on the career ladder. That for a time you had different options available." Joe put his head down finding his fingernails suddenly very fascinating. His posture let her know what she said was true.

"Maybe by me playing nice with Stephens it is getting us both something we want and need." She was looking at him more closely now, waiting for him to catch on. He did and looked over to her.

"Why would you do that?" he asked in a hushed tone. "You don't even know me."

"Well one, I know enough about you and two don't get all excited. Maybe I did it because I know what I am and how new toys are played with for a while then discarded and I'll need a better ally. Maybe I did it because the devil you do know is better than the devil you don't. Maybe I did it because I'm looking out for me and if you owe me a favor even if it's just a small one I can call that in instead of always being the one who owes."

"Aren't the first and the last the same thing?"

"Kinda," she agreed smiling.

Chandler crouched down next to her and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Vivi" he said softly. She turned around, took his hand off her sore shoulder but held on to it.

"Joe" she replied. He looked up at her and realized her eyes weren't brown like he initially thought they were, they were more hazel, he could see a deep green mixed in the brown.

Suddenly he couldn't remember what he was going to say. If he had had a speech in mind it was now lost somewhere. What he did know, was that he was about to kiss her. He leaned into her closing his eyes. She put a hand on his chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said shaking his head surprised with himself and smiling a little, but he didn't stop. He continued to draw closer to her, tilting his head and parting his lips as he did so. She didn't try to stop him the second time, she leaned her head in the opposite direction and parted her own lips, they were millimeters away when they heard a cough from the back of the room.

They both turned to see Miles had just come in. He didn't say anything he continued to look back and forth between Vivi and Joe. They pushed away from each other.

Miles let out and exhausted breath. "I shouldn't have to remind anyone one what a horrendous idea it would be if a direct supervising officer were to get involved with a subordinate. Especially since said subordinate was already warned not to." He took in a sharp breath and said louder, "Need I also remind anyone if such a relationship were to evolve what a disastrous idea it would be to get caught having such said inappropriate relationship?"

"It was a misunderstanding," Vivi explained.

"Oh yeah," Miles said towards Chandler. "Who misunderstood?"

"Did you find out anything about the owner of the painting yesterday?" Chandler asked.

"Uh un," Miles said, shaking his head. "You don't get off that easy. Both of you need to put it in your pants. I'm serious now!" Vivi turned back to her computer and Joe stood up and walked into his office. Both a little embarrassed about what just about to occur.

"I'll deal with you in a minute." Miles said to Vivi and walked after Chandler into his office.

"I don't understand," the older man chided. "You've got women throwing themselves after you and you want none of it. The one you want is career suicide."

Chandler walked around his office found a wipe and used it vigorously on his hands.

"I'm well aware of what I'm doing Miles." Chandler tried to explain. "My head is clear."

"The one on top of your shoulders may be clear but that's not the one you're thinking with, now is it?"

Chandler sat down behind his desk. "Thank you Miles you can go."

"I only tell you this for your own good you know."

"Yes, thank you." Chandler dismissed his DS and Miles left his office. He didn't think anything he said was going to make a difference to Joe. The younger man was underestimating the friends the American had or how damaging it would be if he were to get involved with her. He didn't want him making any stupid mistakes, but it seemed Chandler was determined to make them no matter what.

When he walked back out to the squad room, Mansell had arrived and surprisingly so had Riley. Her face was still swollen slightly and the black eyes were still prominent. He only had a quick chance to shake his head at Basen before getting into the crowd making a fuss over Riley's return.

"I'm going to get some coffee," Basen announced, "Does anyone want anything?" There were a few requests of coffee, tea and pastries.

"I'll go with you," Miles offered. "I could use some air." Basen rolled her eyes knowing there was a lecture coming.

Miles and Chandler took their coffees and waited in a small booth for the rest of the order. Both were silent for a while, until Miles couldn't stand it and spoke up.

"I'm getting tired of talking to you."

"Then stop it" she said.

"When will you?"

"This is mostly your fault," She protested.

"My fault!" He screamed. "Why do you think it's my fault?"

"I was perfectly happy," she explained taking a sip of her coffee. "You're the one who insisted he wasn't gay."

"Why does that make any difference?" Miles asked sipping his own coffee.

"Chandler's gay, I don't give him another thought." She said absently, waving her hand in the air. "Now I have something to think about. And that's your fault." She pointed a finger at him. He snorted back.

"You didn't have to listen to me. You don't seem to be listening to me about anything else" he protested. She shrugged and leaned back in her seat. She didn't really blame Miles however she also didn't really think todays almost kiss made a difference. Chandler, for the moment, was the least of her worries and she told Miles as much.

"Did you talk to Bach?"

"You mean Dr. Block?" He corrected.

"Yeah him, whatever."

"No, He refused to talk to us without his solicitor." Miles said getting up from the table. "They are to come in later today."

"Doesn't that strike you as odd? Why would the owner of a painting think he needs his lawyer just to talk to us?" Vivi said following Miles taking her coffee her. Miles was forced to carry the rest of their order.

"No idea, don't really much care. I'll let you handle the picture angle, I'll work on more solid theories."

"Yeah, and what would those be?" She asked.

"Well someone was the father of Gretchen's unborn child, we need to find him and we'll find more answers."

Vivi chewed on Miles' words, not just the ones regarding the case but also about Chandler. She honestly didn't think she and Chandler were leaning towards and inappropriate relationship. Chandler didn't seem the type to sacrifice a career on a "pretty girl". Although Basen never thought herself as a pretty face, currently she was just the new toy and everyone took a turn with the new toy didn't they.

She also knew she wasn't going to start anything with Chandler, at least she was pretty sure. Wasn't she just ready to kiss him back at the office? No probably not, Vivi was in the middle of trying to convince herself she wouldn't, if Miles hadn't come into the office when he did they were most likely going to realize themselves how preposterous the idea of the two of them together was.


	17. Chapter 17

As Miles and Basen walked through the door of headquarters Vivi worked through the days new problems in her mind. She was on the fence about Miles' conviction that she was on the wrong track with the painting. Maybe she was and was only thinking of it because it was the last thing she saw before she was attacked. She was wrapped up in her own thoughts and not paying attention that almost ran into two men standing in the lobby.

"Sorry," she started but stopped herself when she saw one of the men. She let out a small squeal and dropped her coffee spilling it over Miles' shoes, the older man swore because of it.

One of the two men was a relatively attractive black man, thin with deep brown skin, immaculately dressed, Vivi was able to recognize him for what he was, a lawyer. It was the other man who stopped her in her tracks. He looked exactly like her attacker from last night, well exactly wasn't the right word. Where the suspect's scalp was clean shaven this man had a perfect head of hair; deep brown and flowing almost like a girl. She couldn't be right about the skin tone either the black light in the club made everyone a different shade a blue. He didn't seem build as their perp from last night either. He didn't tower over Vivi, but it may be currently he wasn't trying to be imposing.

Vivi had also known she left scratches on her attacker, the man in front of her now had no such marks. Basen was confused, how could the assailant from last night be here now but look so different?

It was the lawyer who broke the silence first.

"Grant Wilkes, this is my client Dr. Robert Block." The lawyer stuck out his hand to the detectives. Miles looked at his hand then back at him.

"What can we help you with today counselor?" Vivi on the other hand was still looking at who was now identified as Dr. Block.

"Yes well," the lawyer started putting his unshaken hand back down. "I understand you were recently inquiring about a painting owned by my client." As Vivi and Miles stood talking to the two men Kent and Chandler walked down the stairs to the lobby. They walked over to the other detectives gathered around the two men. Chandler stopped in his tracks, just as surprised as Basen was.

"I'm sorry aren't you," Chandler was unsure how to finish his thought. He agreed the man looked very much like the attacker from last night, even though the lights from the darken club would have made positive ID difficult, he was sure, but not to sure.

Dr. Robert Block," he said offering his hand to Chandler. Chandler didn't shake it, instead he looked over at Vivi and raised an eyebrow. This couldn't be their suspect.

"I'm sorry," Interrupted the lawyer, "We were asked to come down here to discuss Dr. Block's painting and we understood there were some questions. If there is no real concern here I'm sure Dr. Block's time could be better served somewhere else."

"Not so fast." Miles stopped them. "We would still like to ask Dr. Block some questions, just give us a moment. Here Kent, can you show the doctor and Mr. Wilkes to a room.

"Certainly, which one sir?" There was the question, normally witnesses would be shown to a comfortable room to put them at ease, they would be asked a few questions and sent on their way. However with the way Basen and Chandler were behaving he thought their new friend would be better served in an interrogation room, plus didn't Basen assume this guy was a suspect already? And that is where he planned to put them until he could get some type of coherent answer from Joe and Vivi.

Miles gave instructions and sent Kent off with the doctor and his solicitor. Miles pulled Basen and Chandler into a side room.

"What's with the two of you?" Miles demanded. Vivi and Joe continued to exchange quizzical looks. Both were perplexed as to how the suspect from last night managed to walk right into their hands.

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world," Vivi mumbled under her breath.

"You are seeing what I am as well." Chandler remarked. "That is the man who attacked us last night at the club, Miles," Joe said in an unconvinced voice.

"What do you mean?" Miles asked.

"Just that," Chandler affirmed. "He is the same person we chased in the club, but he isn't."

"And just how can that be?" Miles asked, staring at the two detectives in disbelief.

Miles didn't want to know Basen's hunch about the painting was correct it was a ridiculous angle that only happened in movies and bad TV cop shows. No one is stupid enough to come back to the scene of the crime to remove an incidental item.

"Are you sure that's him?" he asked.

"Yes," they both said together, "no" they included.

"There is no way the guy in there has my finger nails imprinted on his face, unless he is sporting a ton of makeup that no one can see. " Vivi remarked.

"I guess it's possible, anything is possible." Chandler fidgeted. "But who would be stupid enough to waltz right in here?"

"Unless he's incredibly cocky." Vivi stated. "I'm counting on the cocky. I can deal with cock." She stood and left the room.

Chandler and Basen sat opposite Dr. Block and his lawyer. Vivi made a point to keep as much eye contact with Mr. Wilkes and address Block as little as possible. Not only did she not particularly like Block, she was hoping for him to drop his guard and slip in some way. He and his painting were key to breaking this case and if Miles didn't see that Vivi didn't care, she knew she was right.

"I do apologize for the wait Mr. Bach," Vivi began.

"Dr. Block." The doctor corrected

"I'm sorry, of course, my mistake. Thank you for coming in."

"I'm sorry," the lawyer started. "Is my client under the suspicion of something?"

Vivi turned to Wilkes and smiled. "We just have a few questions regarding some developments that arouse last night," she explained settling back into her chair. She looked at the lawyer and smiled. He smiled back easily.

"This interview is being recorded and conducted at the Whitechapel police station," Chandler started the required obligatory prattle. Vivi continued to hold the solicitors eye and risked a quick glance to Chandler in an attempt to look at Block out of the corner of her eye. She fought the urge to smile wider, although he wasn't showing it nearly as much as she would have liked Block was stewing, it could have been his unease at being questioned by the police however she was counting on being ignored. She was familiar with needed people and he fit the bill perfectly.

Everyone said their name to the recorder to get the preliminaries out of the way. Basen opened a manila folder and took out a picture.

"Are you familiar with this woman?" she moved the pictured in front of Block but continued to look and smile at the lawyer.

"Yes," Block confirmed. "She was recently in the news. Got herself in trouble of some sort."

"She got herself dead," Basen said flatly making sure she looked at the doctor when she said this.

"Did you know Ms. Mellon?" Chandler asked.

"Not personally no," Block said leaning back in his chair. "Only what I've seen on TV."

"We would like to take your clients painting and run some tests on it." Basen said to Mr. Wilkes.

"What on earth for?" Block asked.

"We believe Mellon had your painting in her home. We think someone came back and removed that picture." This she said directly to Block but once the last word was out of her mouth she turned back to Wilkes.

"Well you're mistaken. Is this common among American detectives to be this incorrect about something? It's a wonder crime is solved in America."

"I'm a detective that happens to be an American." Vivi corrected careful to suppress any anger in her voice. "I also don't believe we are incorrect in this assumption."

"Well now I'm sure you've spoken to Ms. Spint. You're aware that my painting has been safely with the Thall gallery for these past 6 years. I was assured it's been safely kept. Is it possible this Mellon person had a print or a cheap knock off?"

"It's possible and we are looking into that further however we would like to know your whereabouts last night." Chandler asked.

"Not out clubbing I can assure you."

"We never asked about a club." Chandler countered.

"It's just an expression." He said quickly, flashing a wide eyed look at Basen. Vivi noted the look but put it away for future use.

"Well it is interesting you say club." Chandler said. "We had an altercation last night with someone who matches your description."

"Well I can assure you, it wasn't me."

"Certainly and the sooner we can confirm your alibi we can eliminate you as a suspect. "

"I'm afraid I don't have a very good one." He confessed.

"I'm sure it's fine." Chandler reassured him.

"I was in the company of a," he paused. "young woman." He shifted in his chair.

"Could you provide her name?"

"I'm afraid I don't remember the name, it was a quick transaction."

Vivi snickered before she could stop herself.

"I'm sorry, what exactly do you find funny Ms. Basen?"

"Detective Basen and no I don't find it funny, I'm just surprised someone," she stopped herself. "No I'm sorry Mr. Bach I meant no disrespect."

"It's Dr. Block and I believe you did. I'm sure once you've finished making eyes at my solicitor you'll have time to finish our business and I can be on my way." Vivi for the first time since they sat down turned her full attention to the doctor. She held the doctors eyes for a few moments. Keeping the room in silent anticipation as to what she would say or do. She was smarter than this man and knew it, however she was nursing her second dislocated shoulder and right now was working on speculation and conjecture which would only get her so far. She needed him to slip up in some way.

"I'm not making eyes at your solicitor as you pointed out, I was just curious as to why you felt you needed a chaperone to visit the police station."

Block pressed his lips together making them one thin line. He shot her a look that would have killed Basen if he willed it and stood up.

"I can assure you I don't need a chaperone or a protector," his voice was rising and he jabbed a finger into Vivi's face. "The police like to make accusations on innocents and distort facts. I'm simply protecting myself from police brutality. You shove us in a room, make me feel like an animal, insinuate I've done something when nothing could be further from the truth!" Block was shouting and his face had started to turn a bright red.

His lawyer put a hand on his wrist. "Rob, answer the detectives questions. I'll take care of everything." The doctor pulled his arm out of the lawyer's grasp.

"Sit down please Dr. Block." Chandler encouraged.

"We would like you to review some photos, submit to an exam and we'd really love to look at that painting, then we can have you on your way."

"I'll look at your pictures, you can check my alibi, there is no need to check my painting, I can assure you it hasn't left the gallery in 7 years." He took several breaths to calm himself and the deep red color he features took on when he was in his rant managed to drain from his face.

Chandler produced the pictures of the other two victims. Vivi risked a look at Block but saw no genuine recognition on his face when he looked at Lynne Hardey's picture. When he saw the picture of Carissa he smirked and picked up the photo.

"This one looks like you, Ms. Basen. Looks like you should be careful."

"Is that a threat?" Chandler asked.

"No of course not, I was just looking out for Basen's safety." At that remark Block took the first two fingers of his left hand and brought them to his nose and inhaled deeply. Chandler and Basen questioned the motion. On another occasion it would have been obscene but Vivi currently saw no reason for it. "We wouldn't want to lose the American detective so early in the game.

"Mr. Bach," Basen started. "I'm sure we could go back on forth like this all day. You one upping me, me one upping you but it would be much easier to put them out on the table for measure. I'm sure mine is much bigger than yours." He pushed the photos back over to Chandler.

"Are we finished here?"

"How did you find your 'date'?" Chandler asked.

"I use a service."

"We'll take the number to confirm." Chandler explained pushing a note paid in front of Block. Chandler flashed his eyes over to Vivi and noted she was still smiling at Wilkes. He understood the reasoning behind it. It had certainly put Block in a foul mood however he didn't think he appreciated the maneuver. Certainly there was a better way to catch Block unaware. And have they really gotten anything from him?

Block finished scribbling the number on the pad again turned towards Basen, who gave him cursory glance.

"Is this when you tell me not to leave town?"

"Now that you mention it." Basen said standing up. "It would be nice if you didn't."

"I won't, as a matter of fact I have several engagements this week that will keep me around, just in case someone is interested." He smirked at Basen and then Chandler, looked them both up and down and turned to leave.

"Thank you for coming in Mr. Bach."

"It's Dr. Block." This time he stepped forward quickly. His lawyer put and hand on his chest to restrain him.

"Ron." His lawyer cautioned.

Basen first looked at the lawyer's hand then up at Block's face. Vivi grinned. Block looked at his lawyer's hand then directly to his lawyer. He turned swiftly and walked out of the interview room. Wilkes paused a moment, handed Vivi his card.

"If you need anything further of my client or," he paused. "Anything else, please do not hesitate to call me directly. " He held Vivi's eyes for a moment keeping hold of the card, a sign Chandler remember the bartender doing from the other night. He then turned and followed his client.

"What is that?" Chandler asked Vivi as they walked back to the incident room.

"What is what?" She asked a mischievous smile still played on her face as she slipped the card into her pocket.

"Why did he hold on to the card? Your bartender friend did that to me yesterday."

She stopped and turned to look at him.

"Adnan did that to you?" Chandler nodded. Vivi beamed.

"You could do a lot worse than Adnan." She started to walk away again, Chandler stopped her.

"What do you mean?"

Basen shrugged. "It's the new tap under the bathroom stall, or the elbow squeeze when you shake hands." Chandler still looked perplexed. "Adnan was hitting on you Chandler, good God man." She walked away shaking her head in disbelief and leaving him in stunned silence.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The incident room was unusually quiet. Chandler stood at the white board rewriting notes and moving and removing pictures in an effort to reorganize his thoughts. The answer was in front of him if he just arraigned the board correctly. Miles was studying the coroner's reports cover to cover. DNA was slow but they expected it at any time now. He had already studied the reports front to back however, there were subtle differences between the girl's murders. Miles was finished picking through the most obvious and had moved on to the not so obvious. He too was sure the answer was in front of him.

Vivi in the meantime had her attention focused on the interview they had just completed. She had looked at the tape several times and was now on her second run through with the sound off, trying to note Blocks change in body language. She was planning on going through the tape a few times with the sound off then move on to listening to the interview instead of watching it, when she saw something fly past her head out of the corner of her eye.

"Pst," it was Mansell trying to get her attention, he held another paperclip at the ready if the first hadn't gotten her attention.

She turned angry at the disruption.

"What?" she spat.

"Where is it?" He smiled jutting his chin out. Vivi squinted at him then realized Mansell was asking about her tattoo again. She knew she would never get any work done until he stopped going on about it. She stood up from her desk and walked over to him. He managed to look worried, excited and nervous all at the same time unsure exactly what she would do. She stood in front of him for a few moments, still surprised an adult male could act like a teenager on occasions.

"What do you want to know?" Vivi asked placing her hands impatiently on her hips.

"Just uh, just…" he trailed off.

"Here," she lifted up the right corner of her shirt and pulled down the waist band on her pants. Everyone was interested now. Kent leaned over from his desk. Riley walked over and stood next to Mansell. Only Miles stayed at his desk. Chandler wasn't sure he approved of having this go on since they had so much work to do, but he was interested in finding out about the tattoo almost as much as Mansell he was just better at hiding it.

"What's it say?" Mansell asked, his head tilted and turned as he tried to study the tattoo. It was low on her hip. Close enough where he could almost tell how well she groomed. Mansell moved his mouth silently mouthing the words.

"It's a bit of bad poetry I'm afraid." She said setting her clothes straight and going back to her desk. She sat down and turned back to the computer to finish her work.

"Wait I-" Mansell started. "I didn't get a good look."

"What's the poetry?" Kent asked.

Vivi turned back to the group, sighed heavily and shook her head back and forth. "It says 'And dammed those who say we can't', set in an infinity loop. My old team back in the states was fond of the saying so we all go a tattoo to show it. Different places for everyone but we all did it. That was back when we thought we were almost awesome." She looked down and studied her hands. "Ronnie found it, it's supposed to be from the collection of some of the worse poetry in the world, by Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings I believe." Her voice broke on the last part. But Vivi turned quickly, put headphones on and turned on the interview. Her contribution regarding her past was short and still left questions unanswered. But her posture put an end to any inquiries for more information.

Mansell looked to Kent and shrugged. Riley fought the urge to walk over to Basen and make an offer of friendship or just a friendly ear if needed but she didn't think this was the time to make that offer. She made a note that she would do it later.

"So what are you thinking now boss?" Kent asked Miles who hadn't participated in the probing of Basen's tattoo.

Miles didn't answer at first and Kent was about to ask his question again when Miles smiled.

"I think Mellon was an accident and the others were done to cover it up, or at least to throw us off track."

"How so?" Mansell asked.

"Well look at Mellon, the weapon was opportunity, something that was already there. She was in for the evening too, I think she was settling in when the murderer attacked. It seems more of a crime of passion" Miles moved some papers, "The other girls had been out. They brought their killer home on both occasions. Whoever was with Mellon started this, the other murders were meant to make us think it was some type of serial."

Miles walked over to the board and took the photos of the woman's injuries and put them together.

"The stab wound to the heart is bigger on Hardey and Beard a different weapon was used. I saw those needles Basen believes were used, they are impossible to use as any real weapon of any sort. Too smooth to stick in and take out easily. He had to do a bit of digging to get it out. I'm surprised he was able to do it in the first place. The bone marrow harvest on Mellon was actually taken, not so on Hardey and Beard, but the wounds are still there. The fact that they ingested the barbiturate versus Mellon's injection is also suspicious too. I also don't think this was one person, I think we are dealing with two killers here. Maybe only one on Mellon but they were both there on Hardey and Beard. You hear that Basen," he raised he voice so she could hear him. She still had her back to the group with the head phones on. Her hands wear pressing the ear pieces so she could hear better and focus solely on the voices during the interview.

"Hey!" Miles screamed again.

Basen spin around in her chair ripping off the head phones. "Hey," she said. "There are two guys out there." She stood up and walked closer to the group huddled around the board.

"Wilkes called him Ron _and_ Rob. Not that unusual to have a nickname from Robert but it's a little unusual for your lawyer to call you two different names don't you think? I know mine knows my name. Of all people shouldn't your lawyer know your name?" She asked the group but she didn't pause for an answer. "The guy last night his hands were callused, not something a doctor who relies on his hands for work would allow, would he? Blocks fingers and hands were baby smooth like he soaks them in oil each night."

"You're a genius," Miles said sarcastically. "You don't think the name thing was an accident?"

"Eh," Basen shrugged. "That guy, well both of them were careful and calculating. It would explain how the doctor is our attacker but not."

"So you two believe you are dealing with a Leopold and Loeb or a Bianchi and Buono, the Hillside Stranglers? Buchan asked. "Wait I'll go get my notes." He started to leave the room.

"Why would you need to go anywhere?" Basen asked. "We've all got computers up here."

"I have detailed notes in the archives."

"Yeah it's called a computer." Vivi insisted.

"Well I've assisted greatly in several investigations from the archives I've carefully constructed." Buchan said with a bit of contention.

"Who is this guy?" Basen asked pointing to Buchan.

"Vivi Basen this is Ed Buchan." Joe stepped in to make introductions. "He's consulted on more than one case for us. Currently he keeps an archive regarding past cases to assist."

"Well I've had more than one consultation with my computer. I'm all set with that."

"The computer doesn't have all of the information nor does it always have the most accurate information. " Buchan was hurt and a little insulted.

"Yeah that's way I rely on my brain." Vivi said curtly. "Look I've got some stuff I gotta do. This has been stimulating conversation." She grabbed her bag and jacket.

"Where are you going?" Miles screamed after her.

"Gotta see a new friend." She said over her shoulder.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry it's been so long, and now my new chapter is huge just to warn you. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I've enjoyed writing. **

Chapter 19

When Basen came back she looked better than she had before she left. Her hair was out of its regular pony tail bun and flowed freely around her shoulders. The red sweater was gone and replaced by a revealing low top.

"Where were you?" Miles asked. "Getting yourself into more trouble?"

"Maybe," she said slyly walking into Chandler's office. Miles followed her.

"Figure out which pencils I licked yet?" She asked when she saw Chandler with one in his hand. He immediately tossed it away as if it were infected.

"What are you looking to self-satisfied about?"

"I have news." She said raising her eyebrows.

"I don't think it is better than mine." Chandler said smiling back at her.

"Oh yeah, try me."

"Your precious Dr. Block will be at a charity event tomorrow that includes several high ranking dignitaries. Because of the people who will be attending this event certain security is needed. I've arraigned for us to be included in the security detail team." Chandler leaned back in his chair, satisfied whatever news she had couldn't possibly trump his.

"Who said I wanted to babysit Basen's suspect?" Miles protested.

"Well you don't have to go Miles, we'll take Kent, Mansell and Riley."

"You can take Mansell and Riley," Basen said, she sat on the corner of Chandler's desk.

"I do have chairs," he pointed out.

"News is given much more dramatically when perched on something," she said.

"What then?" Miles asked. "What are you so happy about?"

"Well you can take Riley and Mansell on your security detail, if Miles truly doesn't want to go on a fishing expedition, but I think I'll take Kent as my date." She paused for a more dramatic effect, "I scored tickets."

"It's a $5000 plate event," Chandler said unbelievingly. "How did you get tickets?"

"I have methods." She smiled.

"You're not going to take your boyfriend?" Miles questioned.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Stephens?" Miles probed further.

"Percy can go to hell." She stopped and remembered something. "Hey wait," She looked confused. "If you're working security do you get a gun?"

"NO GUN!" Miles and Chandler yelled.

Chapter 19

When Basen came back she looked better than she had before she left. Her hair was out of its regular pony tail bun and flowed freely around her neck and shoulders. The red sweater was gone and replaced by a revealing low top.

"Where were you?" Miles asked. "Getting yourself into more trouble?"

"Maybe," she said slyly walking into Chandler's office. Miles followed her.

"Figure out which pencils I licked yet?" She asked when she saw Chandler with one in his hand. He immediately tossed it away as if it were infected.

"What are you looking to self-satisfied about?"

"I have news." She said raising her eyebrows.

"I don't think it is better than mine." Chandler said smiling back at her.

"Oh yeah, try me."

"Your precious Dr. Block will be at a charity event tomorrow that includes several high ranking dignitaries. Because of the people who will be attending this event certain security is needed. I've arraigned for us to be included in the security detail team." Chandler leaned back in his chair, satisfied whatever news she had couldn't possibly trump his.

"Who said I wanted to babysit Basen's suspect?" Miles protested.

"Well you don't have to go Miles, we'll take Kent, Mansell and Riley."

"You can take Mansell and Riley," Basen said, she sat on the corner of Chandler's desk.

"I do have chairs," he pointed out.

"News is given much more dramatically when perched on something," she said.

"What then?" Miles asked. "What are you so happy about?"

"Well you can take Riley and Mansell on your security detail, if Miles truly doesn't want to go on a fishing expedition, but I think I'll take Kent as my date." She paused for a more dramatic effect, "I scored tickets."

"It's a $5000 plate event," Chandler said unbelievingly. "How did you get tickets?"

"I have methods." She smiled.

"You're not going to take your boyfriend?" Miles questioned.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Stephens?" Miles probed further.

"Percy can go to hell." She stopped and remembered something. "Hey wait," She looked confused. "If you're working security do you get a gun?"

"NO GUN!" Miles and Chandler yelled.

Kent was a little surprised by the phone call but understood. Basen was lost again and wouldn't make the event in time without assistance. Kent agreed to pick her up and navigated the streets in an effort to find her. It was no small wonder she was lost, she gave horrible directions. All major points were past "that place were that thing happened" or "next to the bar that has all the bricks in front". He had only agreed to accompany her tonight under the pretext that he would be doing a little reconnaissance. Speculation and rumor ran rampant when it came to the American. However, surprisingly most of it avoided her relationship with Stevens. Almost everyone was "in bed" with someone so to speak and not many cared to flash it around.

Most of the gossip on Vivi Basen surrounded what had happened in the states. Her integrity and loyalties were typically the hot topic. Kent had done a little research himself and found an article regarding the death of her family under suspicious circumstances. The article had made it clear that Basen hadn't actively participated in the gruesome deaths but at the time the article was published police were still verifying her alibi. It also mentioned she had recently been the target of an investigation into the police department regarding missing weapons, drugs and money from a sting operation.

The rumors disturbed Kent. He had been on his way to liking the detective despite Chandler's initial animosity towards her. But now as Chandler started to warm up to the new detective Kent's feelings were going in the opposite direction. He had told himself he was only looking out for the team. They didn't need someone within their ranks who couldn't be trusted. But as he noted more and more the sideways glances Chandler allowed himself at Vivi when he didn't think anyone was looking, the need to prove himself right about Basen, to show Chandler his instincts were correct after being so far off the mark on Meghan was overwhelming. He was going to do it better this time. Get close to her, collect the facts and then expose her. Meghan's last remarks floated through his mind, "Perhaps [being the bad guy] is more you than you think" but he pushed them away. He refused to let himself believe the comments.

Kent managed to locate the hotel Basen said she was in and found her in the lounge. She was sitting in a chair with two men were sitting on either side of her. Both oversized and hulking, Kent wouldn't have thought she would have given them the time of day. But both men were leaning in towards Basen, almost suffocating her and she appeared to be hanging on every word they said. Kent recognized the alpha positions they were trying to assert. Vivi turned and squealed his name when she saw him.

"Kent!" Vivi jumped up and ran towards him. "I'm so glad you're here." She said to him under her breath, she turned and addressed the men, "This is my friend Emerson Kent." She told them folding her hand around his.

"Aw come on pet." One of them said, "You can't seriously be dumping us for that boy." The other man sniggered. Both took on what Basen always referred to as a 'bull dog stance'. Feet planted firmly, shoulders squared, one man even went as far as to ball up his fists.

Basen smiled a half smile. She didn't appreciate the insult and weighed how she would play it. She had decided to bring her gun with her tonight, carefully tucked into a holster she had had made back in the states that swept around her thigh. Flashing it had been on her mind but she didn't want to run the risk of being found out before she could shove it in Bach's face and she was sure she could find another way in dealing with these assholes. She instead brought herself up full height, which was increased by a few inches thanks to her heals and pushed up against Kent

"Emerson," she said with a chuckle, "is no mere boy." She snaked one hand up his back then the other through his hair brought him down and kissed him hard on the mouth. She held fast to Kent's head and the kiss was just a bit too long, she then let him go. She turned a self-satisfied smile to the two men, grabbed Kent's hand and walked out of the hotel with him. Once outside she apologized.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable but those guys were getting on my nerves." She explained reaching into her bag, bringing out a tissue and shoving it into Kent's hand. "Where's your car?"

Kent's face was flushed red. With excitement, embarrassment or anger, he wasn't sure which. He wiped at his mouth vigorously. She was wearing a deep plumb color lipstick but very little transferred to his mouth.

"Should I ask what that was about?" He asked but listened to only half of her explanation. The skirmish was reminiscent of countless of other times he had been confronted by people who enjoyed picking on him because they though him weak or gay. It was usually by lumbering thugs similar to the ones tonight. Kent hadn't needed Basen's help, he could handle them himself. After the Kray's a few years back he had taken a few defense courses and was getting better all the time. He would have surprised them with what he had learned and could now do.

"KENT!" Basen screamed grabbing his arm. He became aware of his current location just few moments before he walked directly out into traffic. "Hey, where did we go just then?" Basen asked smiling.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention."

"Really?" she said sarcastically, "Where is your car?" she asked again.

"Well actually it's my uncle's car. I didn't think you would appreciate riding double on my scooter."

"You never know, I may pretend to be a motorcycle momma." Vivi said smiling. Kent didn't understand and just pointed to where the car was and walked with her too it. She made an American mistake and tried to get in on the driver's side but realized her mistake and quickly corrected herself.

Once inside Kent attempted small talk, asking if Basen was getting any better at navigating the city in lieu of tonight's set back. Explaining the weather wasn't normally this cold they were just having a colder than usual spring start.

"It seems our winter doesn't want to let go just yet." he said.

"Why don't you cut the bullshit and ask what you want to ask?" Vivi asked.

Kent fell silent.

"I mean honestly, I don't appreciate small talk, I never did never will. What is it that you want to know Kent?"

Kent screwed up his face. He should have expected Basen to be this blunt but it still caught him off guard. And, like Chandler he wanted to know everything about her, albeit for different reasons. He kept quiet, trying to think of what questions he wanted answered first. He hadn't made it public that he was looking in to her past but he hadn't announced it either. Calls were made when no one was in the office or from his cell phone when he wasn't. He had put a privacy filter over his computer screen so it couldn't be read unless you were directly in front of it, least any prying eyes wanted to read over his shoulder. He had newspaper, magazine and internet articles, there had even been a profile of what happened to her family on one of those TV news shows.

Kent felt he was pretty well versed regarding her file, although there were troubling spots on it. Some of the stories directly contradicted each other. He knew from experience that most news agencies had only half the information and relied on less the honest sources for the half they didn't know. From what he had learned about the American in his time with her, he found some of the stories unbelievable. It was one of the other reasons he had agreed to tonight's "date" to try to clear up discrepancies and confirm if any of the rumors had merit. He had decided he would do whatever it took to confirm this. Sometimes it surprised him how different he was now from when he first joined the police force. He had gone from young and idealistic to suspicious and calculating, he didn't think he would have had the courage to investigate her even a few years ago. Basen grew tired of the silence and finally said:

"By the time you think of your question it will be too late," she mused. Kent smiled at her but didn't think so, he was taking his time getting them to the benefit. He was sure she knew this but wasn't letting on just yet. "Look, I know you're looking into me, doing your own investigation so to speak. Have you found anything? Why didn't you just ask me?

"I was interested in," he paused choosing his words carefully, "squashing the rumors." He finally settled on.

"Which rumors would those be, exactly?"

"Your relationship with your last lieutenant?" He said. He hoped it had sounded as curt as she tended to be, he wanted quick straight answers, and he didn't want to be distracted by any long explanations or colorful stories.

"Captain and no, really, that's what you chose to lead with? You have a variable cornucopia of information on me and you chose to ask me about my alleged relationship with my captain, why you would want to know that it's so, OOHHHHHHH." She shut her mouth and turned to look out of the window. "I get it."

"I don't know what you mean." He said staring straight ahead.

"God, now you want to play this game as well?" She threw up her hands. She was exasperated. Suspects and criminals acted like this, she guessed jealous lovers could as well, but she didn't appreciate it. "You get reports that question my integrity, your almost handed information that I'm corrupt and you want to know if me and Chandler are knocking boots."

"But you don't deny you had dinner with Joe?" She noticed he used Joe and not Chandler. As long as Basen had been with the squad she had never known Kent to address Chandler by his first name, he had always been formal when addressing and speaking of Chandler now today it's Joe.

"I don't deny it, and it was dinner between too colleagues." She said added, "You know I'm not competition."

"I don't look at you that way." He said increasing his grip on the wheel. Kent's hands griped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. Why he chose to ask that question he wasn't sure. He also didn't like the conclusion she jumped to, not when he wasn't ready to admit it to himself. He tried to convince himself on more than one occasion he looked towards Chandler as a mentor, nothing else. There were times when that was more difficult than others.

She couldn't help but smile. "That confident eh?" She wondered if he would have been that confident knowing Chandler's mouth had been inches away from hers the other day. She thought of telling him that but pushed it away. For all she knew the two already had "that kind" of a relationship, but she didn't think so. "You know I would like to point out if you are trying to date your DI you're going about it in the absolute wrong way."

"I have nothing but a professional relationship with DI Chandler. I have nothing be respect for him. I view DI Chandler as nothing more than a colleague, nothing more than a friend, nothing more than a mentor."

"Nothing eh?" She said nodding her head fighting the urge to rub her chin least she smudge her make up. "That's a hell of a lot of nothings." She was going to start a long monologue on how she had not done or said anything that had been inappropriate or could have come across as misleading in any way, but her heart wasn't in it and she didn't think Kent cared to hear it. He had already come to a conclusion about her that she guessed she deserved. And she honestly felt a little better being accused of being something other than a dirty cop.

Kent pulled the car to the side of the road, he was finding it very difficult to drive and concentrate on the conversation that seemed to be getting away from him. He rubbed the fingers of each hand on their respected palms and thought for a moment.

""I wasn't sure if you would tell the truth," Kent risked a quick look at her than sighed. "It truly started as just a way to put to rest some of the rumors that were being circulated about you. It isn't beneficial to the team to have a member who is thought of as disreputable."

"So you're here to "clear the air" so to speak"

"Exactly"

"Thanks Kent, you are doing a service for us all. Tell me this though, wouldn't it have been easier to ask me what about my life in the states why I left and all, than to go behind my back, calling old friends and coworkers? Just asking since we are being so honest with each other."

"Kent," Vivi said softly putting a hand on his arm. "I'll answer questions, just ask me. I'm not a horrible person, at least," she cast her eyes down, "I didn't used to think I was a horrible person. Almost nothing I was accused of in the states is true. I'm not a rat, a thief, a killer or a drug dealer. I haven't made deals with the mob or the devil, although I think I saw him once or twice. The devil not the mob." She had turned back around facing front and placed her hands in her lap. She had given up trying to keep the dress wrinkle free and leaned back in the seat. "I guess I should have figured that once you're branded it's always that way."

"I guess I was jealous," Kent confessed. He too settled back in the seat. "It was easier to like you when Chandler didn't. He's changed his opinion of you and I guess I was looking for a reason to get you unlikeable again. "

"You're too protective of him. I'm not interested in Chandler in any way. I really don't think he is all that fascinated by me either. You know what you feel for him may just be a crush. It's easier to love someone that doesn't love you back, then to love someone that loves you too." He shook his head at her unbelievingly.

"Sure think about it. If you and I were in love we try to do things for and with each other. You'd come home thinking wouldn't it be great if we spent a quiet night snuggled together watching whatever sports you watch on TV, have a quite dinner at home. I'd call and say hey let's go out we can spend the night dancing getting drunk looking at the sights. The exact opposite of what you wanted to do. Maybe I'd change my mind maybe you would but after a while it wouldn't be that easy. We'd fight that you never what to do what I want to do or I never want to do what you want to do, either way fights happen because your vision of our relationship is not the same as mine. Who's more right? Who's more in love? What if we don't fight, I just keep doing what you do and start to resent you because I don't feel appreciated? Love does nothing but suck."

"That's a very cynical view isn't it? Especially for someone who was married?"

"My love never benefitted anyone." She said her voice breaking. "Don't make me cry tonight Kent. I'll mess up my make up."

"Sorry, this isn't at all how it was supposed to go. I screwed it up."

"Next time you want answers, ask them like you already know what the answer will be. Don't let your suspect catch you off guard. Don't give anything of yourself away. I learned a lot of stuff from a really good cop." She picked through her purse again found another tissue and used it to blot her eyes. "Crying is also a bad sign."

Kent wiped his own eyes, "Yeah we're going to look great."

"I'm sure we are going to be voted cutest couple." She said laughing.

"There's going to be awards!"

He risked a look at her, she did look lovely tonight. Her hair was swept back and away from her face and neck, sparkly jewels were littered throughout and caught what little light there was. He could almost see why anyone would be attracted to her, she was pretty enough. Although he didn't see why Chandler was under her spell, she wasn't like him like DI Norroy was, she didn't have a calm and pleasant demeanor like Morgan Lamb did. Maybe the fact that she was so different was the appeal.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Miles did come to the fund raiser. Both he and Mansell were wearing rented tuxedos that Miles found extremely uncomfortable. Most of the security detail was in the same boat, uncomfortable ill- fitting rented tuxedos that no one found any enjoyment in wearing. Joe, however, had no such issue. He was wearing one of his own tuxes which he felt almost at home in. He was accustomed to wearing finer clothing and this gave him the perfect opportunity to do so.

Besides the rented tuxedos the security team could also be identified by the ear piece each wore with a mic secured within their wrists. They had one for both Kent and Basen when they arrived. Joe wondered when that would be. Cocktail hour was 5-7:30 and it was now closer to 7 and neither had arrived. Joe had tried to reach Basen and Mansell had called Kent but neither we able to reach their intended targets. So they were left wondering if and when they would show up.

Mansell of course had his theories. Which he tried to tell everyone and anyone who would care to listen, of course there wasn't that many who cared to listen. He was sure Chandler wanted to know, at least he though there was a strange interest that Chandler showed in Basen and vice versa. He was starting to think there was some odd sort of love triangle going on in the office. He was hoping it was a Joe/Vivi/Emerson type of triangle and not an Emerson/Chandler/Vivi triangle. Mansell wasn't sure he could handle it any other way.

Chandler was aware of Mansell's theories and was starting to get very tired of the Basen gossip going around and refused to listen. Currently he didn't need help wondering what Emerson and Vivi may be up to, his imagination was active enough, it didn't need any additional assistance.

Chandler had been keeping a careful eye on the entrance. Traffic had been steadily coming in up until about half an hour ago. Now any time Chandler saw movement at the front door he turned to look. He saw Kent first, the younger man was dressed as Chandler hadn't seen before. He wore a tuxedo that was certainly not rented, it was a deep navy blue, that fit as if it were specially tailored for him. The slim pants accentuated his form, along with a single breasted jacket. He wore a contrasting blue shirt and tie. Chandler questioned the choice of colors until he saw Vivi. She and Kent matched perfectly but she was the main attraction. She wore a midnight blue dress that matched Kent's shirt color and flowed about her. The neckline plunged in deep V shape in both the front and back. The arms were drapey and fluttered around as she walked and a silver beaded trim sparkled at her waist. She moved with an additional air of confidence that he hadn't recognized before. He didn't see any evidence of the black eye she had earlier nor was her arm trapped in the sling she had worn since the second shoulder dislocation either.

Both she and Kent worked the room. Chandler was sure they looked as if they belonged with the crowd. They were able to quickly acclimate themselves into each group they met up with managing to speak with almost everyone. They managed to catch a quick glimpse of Dr. Block but lost sight of him before they had an opportunity to meet up with the group of people he was speaking with. Chandler managed to catch Vivi's eye throughout their mingling and it took him the better part of the cocktail hour but he was able to find her alone near the bar.

"You look very lovely tonight." He said as he walked up next to her. She waited tilting her head, usually his comments were followed by a dig or some sort of insult. He kept his mouth shut so nothing followed.

"I can say the same for you, but you usually look really put together." She pressed her right side up against his in a friendly nudge, the effect was twofold. She was able to smell the cologne he was wearing a familiar scent that she couldn't place at the moment but it also stopped two men that were about to approach her in their tracks. It was a gestured that showed she was interested in Chandler and didn't need any additional company.

"You're very proud of yourself tonight aren't you?" Chandler asked.

"A little," she admitted.

"I've been thinking, if you are planning on staying with the squad, one of these days you'll have to tell me what happened in the states."

"Yeah one of these days," she agreed. They stood at the bar and ordered drinks. Vivi raised an eyebrow when Chandler ordered a scotch, she was a little surprised but it didn't stop her from getting her own vodka martini. The bar itself was brilliantly lit with a harsh white light, it reflected off the mirror glass making the entire bar look like Times Square. It would never do in most of the places Vivi frequented, where almost everyone treasured their anonymity.

"Why not now," he suggested, settling in next to her.

"Naw, that's all right." She said shaking her head.

"We could talk about something else, like," he paused pretending to think. "Well we can discuss the gun."

"I don't know what you are talking about." She stood up straighter then picked up her drink and took a large swallow. Her eyes shifted over the bar. He reached out his hand towards her leg, she stopped him.

"What makes you think I'm carrying?"

"Are you denying it?"

"Answer my question."

"Answer mine," he countered.

"Or tell you a bed time story?" she inquired.

"So to speak." He was getting used to the questionable terms she was using and shrugged this one off.

"It's a very boring story."

"I am a very boring person," he was expecting a comment, a laugh or some kind of retort to this but she said nothing. He turned and looked at her.

"What do you want to know?" she asked quickly.

"I want to know why you're here, why you left the states."

"Those are two different stories. You'll need to pick the one you what to know most, I'm afraid we wouldn't have time for both."

Chandler thought for a moment, what exactly did he want to know? Well he wanted to know everything. He was curious about her ex-husband, he was curious exactly why she had the reputation she had, if any of the rumors were true, exactly what she did to get here, all of it. He was coming to the realization he wanted to know everything about her since he felt he knew nothing about her.

He settled on a question and asked, "Why would you leave your job in the states to come here?"

She looked at him and smiled her half smile. He didn't think she would talk. She played with her glass for a moment moving it back and forth in between her hands. She picked it up smiled into it, downed the contents in one swallow, put the glass back on the bar, reached over and grabbed Chandler's drink and downed it as well. He didn't think she was going to tell him anything and he was going to tell her it wasn't necessary, she didn't have to tell him now, not here, when she started to speak.

"I was working vice. I had made it beyond the undercover prostitute crap and made it all the way to the undercover drug dealing crap. Our Captain Craig," she paused and said wistfully, "Captain Craig Singleton. He had everyone eating out of his hand, man. He knew everyone, knew everything about everyone. Guys wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him." She looked over to Chandler not answering his unasked question but confirming it just the same. "He was sailing his way through the ranks fast and we were riding his coattails." Vivi's eyes took a faraway dreamy look about them. "We were getting collars left and right but not small timey stuff, we were getting drugs off the street with the sellers and everything." She paused again, looking down at her empty glass played with it for a while then continued.

"You know," she said smiling. "Our team, we were riding high for like years, well months, it was only 27 months but it seemed longer. We were really good team, real tight, a lot of us had worked together before this particular detail. It was me, Mike Harper, Bobby Doolan, Rick Masters, Ralphie West and Ronnie Cole. God Ralphie used to hate it when we called him that." She got the bartender's attention and flashed two fingers to order another round.

"We thought we were the shit," she said this part smiling but then her faced turned dark almost as if a shadow passed over it although the lights in the bar hadn't dimmed. "We had this big bust set up. Ralphie had been under for about 3 months and wasn't handling it well. Rick and I saw 'em at this bar and he looked like crap." She pronounced bar like baa. The longer she spoke the heavier her accent came out. "We told him to hang in there it'd only be for tops maybe a month more. We needed to set up just a few more things we were close though. We had no idea it could have gone as bad as it did. Nobody would have guessed that." She found a point in the ceiling a stared straight through it.

"We were doing a raid on the South End. But something went wrong, I took one in the chest, collapsed a lung. I was out for the count. I don't really remember getting shot or who shot me, I mean I remember the pain but what happened before that is black and each time I try to reach for it, it swims away. Anyway Craig says he got him, the guy who shot me, said it was some small time hood." Chandler was beginning to think she was talking more to herself than to him.

"The team was still hot on this guy Rice though. Still trying to get what they could on him. And they still decided to go through with the next bust. They were down a man but Craig couldn't wait. There was a reason for that but nobody knew it at the time. But it went wrong, really bad wrong. It was supposed to be me and Bobby doing the buy, Ralphie had it all set up since I was out of commission it went down with Bobby and Mike. But Ralphie's cover was blown the day before and nobody knew it. Mike barely made it outta there alive and Bobby and Ralphie, well they just didn't make it.

"As bad as that was it got even worse. 2 weeks later they found $8 mill missing along with almost ½ the stuff we confiscated over the course of our operation. The A.I. guys wanted to know how we blew the investigation, how did Ralphie get found out and how two cops ended up dead. They made it to me sooner rather than later, someone blew Ralphie's cover and since I wasn't there you start looking at the guy who was safe at home. A lot of suspicion was thrown my way. I made it through, a little worse for the wear. I was left 'squeakin' from the freakin' if you catch my drift." Chandler didn't but he didn't bother to interrupt. "It wasn't until the shit hit the fan that I realized what we were, well some of us at least. We were his patsies. There was enough blame going around that everyone was suspect and no one knew who to trust. Really good cops lost their careers over it. Since I made it out of the rubble where so many others didn't, not too many cops trusted me anymore. So it's either be a good cop with no one at your back, or a bad cop with no integrity.

"Then fingers turned to Craig, but Craig was good, he was always good, nothing stuck to him, no matter how much they tried. A lot of the blame was pointed to us, to the team." Vivi paused. "Mike was fingered and took it all. Poor Mickey. Craig made sure the finger was pointing at Mike. Even though he never did nothing course it wasn't until after he ate a bullet did they clear him."

"Your Captain?" Chandler breathed. Vivi looked over to Joe, she seemed to remember she was talking to him smiled and nodded.

"That's a different story, you didn't ask about that one you asked about this one. Anyway, once they had someone I was cleared, well, I wouldn't say 'cleared' per se. They put me out in robbery but no one really trusted me from all the blow back. You know cops can be such jerks sometimes. Half of 'em wouldn't think twice about skimming form a dealer or 'forgetting' to log a few grand. But me, I was a pariah. Had one or two who would back me up but if you don't have the trust forget it. It's gone, they wouldn't piss on ya to put you out if you were on fire.

"I caught a bank robbery and was chasing the two perps but I couldn't get back up." She put her head down, picked up the glass put it down, picked it up and swallowed the contents in two gulps. She turned back to Chandler and finished her story directly to him.

"It was either let the chase go and prove I couldn't be trusted to make the collar or keep on going."

"What happened?" he asked.

"I died," she laughed. "No I caught up with them. Managed to get one down before the other beat the shit out of me and left me for dead. And that would be all she wrote. I wasn't going back after that. After I got out of the hospital I never went back. Couldn't go back.

"I got a lot of visitors after that, guys telling me they were sorry and stuff, but I didn't care, not any more. Then after all the stuff came out about Craig it got worse and better. No one knew who to trust, no one could believe anything. It was bad. Then the other thing happened and I remembered I needed to be somewhere, anywhere other than Boston, so I got out. Looked up an old friend, you know my Granddads originally from London so I figured I'd look up family here and try my hand at bad food, bad teeth and a new set of people not trusting me."

She stopped talking and was silent for a long time. She didn't look at Chandler but he could tell she was fighting back tears which surprised him. He had always assumed she was invincible, she certainly walked around as if she was knew everything and wouldn't let anything get her down.

Chandler felt a little guilty making Vivi tell such an obviously painful story. The rumors made more sense now. He reached out and touched her arm.

"You know tonight I was supposed to find that Bach guy make him even more uncomfortable, flash my pretty ass and watch him slip up in some way so I could bust his butt. Instead between you and Kent I've been crying all night." Chandler could see the tears threatening to spill over the brims of her eyes but it was accompanied by her ever present smile.

"Why were you crying with Kent?" he asked placing a hand on her arm. She took her own hand and placed it on his forearm. What did she want to tell him, that love sucks? Kent's pining for him? That she, what exactly, wished they had met under different circumstances? Wished he would realize what a bad choice she was and direct his attention somewhere else? She wasn't sure which so for now she reached up and kissed him lightly on the check. She left a wet tear streak which he touched as he watched her walk through one of the many rooms exists.


	21. Chapter 21

******OK thanks for waiting for the next chapter. I don't think I'm the actioney type had a little trouble trying to invoke a lot of suspense. So far I'm not really sure what I'm good at but lets pretend it's something. Enjoy and R&R when you get a chance. **

**Chapter 21**

The building that housed the benefit took up half a city block and stood 10 stories. If one wasn't careful it was easy to get lost down one of the many hallways. Ushers were set up around various exists for just this reason, making sure guest were directed to their correct rooms. Vivi passed one such attendant and appeared to barely give him a cursory glance.

Vivi was always amazed at how much you could get with a look. Most interactions were made with nameless faceless people. Too people don't even look at the cleric who sold them that pack of breath mints or the coffee they purchased day after day. But so much could be gained by looking. Vivi made it a point to look. Most people garnered nothing but a once-over, others she made it a point to stare at and continue until they met her gaze. When Vivi left Chandler at the bar and passed the usher at the entrance of the vestibule, smiled at him. His return response would have been missed by most. But Vivi wasn't most people.

He nodded to her and when he saw her smile, he smiled back widely and his eyes quickly darted over to a door marked 'service stairs'. She blinked slowly with a slight nod, and then walked to the rest room. His look confirmed there was a quiet place not often visited. Vivi knew from a little experience the service stairs were most likely where the staff would go for a quick smoke of a cigarette or other type of refreshment when they were taking an unauthorized break. If you kept your eyes peeled you would most likely find hidden liquor depending how observant or strict management was and maybe something stronger if you were lucky. If she continued her walk straight to the stairs she also knew he would have joined her. Something else she had learned, if you don't want to you don't have to be alone. Even if said company was just for a short time.

However, she went into the ladies room. It surprised her how big it was, it was almost bigger than her apartment. She knew she could get used to this however the colors of the room could induce violence, the decorator seemed to be in love with orange and pink. The tile was a pink marble that covered the floor walls and counters. The bathroom fixtures themselves were a nausea inducing neon orange and the fabric that covered the furniture was a horrible orange and pink paisley. She wondered briefly if the men's room was a horrible color as well.

In addition to loud furniture the lounge area was littered with half empty drink glasses and cigarette butts, apparently Brittan hadn't caught on to the 'No Smoking' inside buildings that was the rule in the US, either that or this particular crowd didn't seem that bother by the rule. She shifted through the ash tray. She had smoked all through high school and the better part of her college years and still missed it on occasion, today seemed like a good day as any to cheat. She managed to find one that seemed to have only been used as show, there was quite a bit if left to smoke and very little lipstick on the filter. She found a book of matches that had fallen in between the cushions of the seat lit the cigarette.

Vivi silently cursed Joe. She hated being reminded of her time in the states. Today was particularly difficult since it was her wedding anniversary something she could never remember when she was married but seemed to never forget now. Everything she had dissolved in a little over a year. Everything she knew she was and was going to be disappeared. She could still feel her old life like walking into a spider web, invisible and unable to grasp it but it was still there on your skin taunting you.

She collapse into one of the oversized sofas and fought back the tears that didn't seem to want to go away today. She slapped her face hoping it would cause a sobering effect, it had the opposite and caused the tears to spill over on to her checks and down her face. She contemplated smashing the cigarette butt into her hand but didn't think that would help either. She knew what would take her mind away even if it were just a few moments. She snubbed out the cigarette, stood up and checked herself in the mirror. She dusted powder across her nose and reapplied the lip stick. Before she snapped her small hand bag closed she caught a glimpse of the ear piece Miles had handed her when she walked passed him earlier in the evening. It would have required quite a bit of manipulation on her part, rearranging her dress and everything, it was something she wasn't quite ready for so she hadn't put it on, figuring she would cross the bridge later in the evening. It still wasn't something she was ready to do now either so she snapped the handbag closed and left the bathroom to find the service stairs.

Chandler was left standing there watching her go, he looked around the room and less than half of the guests still remained from when they first began their talk. Most were stragglers trying to take advantage of the cocktail hour's free drinks as much as possible. Several of the staff were wheeling around huge carts clearing tables and bar shelves of glasses, trash and hors d'oeuvres remnants. He was putting together in his mind exactly everything she had told him when he felt someone next to him.

"Your American detective looks quite lovely tonight." Chandler glanced sideways and was taken aback when he saw Dr. Block standing next to him. He had moved up silently and joined Chandler. Joe wasn't sure how long he had been standing there. Chandler had lost sight of him earlier in the evening and had all but forgotten Robert Block and why they were here for that matter.

"She's a detective that happens to be an American" Chandler corrected using Vivi's terminology he had heard her use so often recently.

"What exactly is the difference?" Block snorted.

Chandler fought the urge to call him Bach like Basen seemed to enjoy doing. He replaced it with a thin insult, "I would think proper terminology would be important very important to you Mr. Block." The added, "Shouldn't you be getting to the dining room?"

Block didn't take the bait, instead he said, "Over dressed salad and rubber chicken is not my ideal meal. I was more looking forward to spending time with your detective Basen. I had made special arraignments so we would be sitting together. I would have her all night." The last sentence had a heavy insinuation on it. Chandler was sure Basen wouldn't have been that pleased sitting close to Block, however it may have been something she would have preferred, he would never know.

"Now correct me if I'm wrong, but do homicide detectives normally provide security detail for events like this."

"We are providing additional assistance tonight, plus it is beneficial for us, we are following up on a few leads."

"Would I be one of those leads? I feel special." Block smirked and took a small sip from the drink he held in his hand.

"Most would not view attention from the police as being special." Chandler returned. He was finding Block just as suspicious and annoying as Basen had.

"Well exactly how close do you believe you are to catching your killer?"

"I'm afraid I cannot discuss an ongoing investigation." That was something he had heard American detectives say on television shows so he decided to use it. "But we are sure to capture our killer."

Block raised his glass to his lips and breathed, "And damned those who say you can't?" Block's drink froze on his lips and he looked straight ahead. Chandler continued to stand straight but he shifted his eyes over to Dr. Block. The drink was still parked on his lips, he seemed to have had turned to stone, perspiration broke out on his forehead. If Block hadn't acted so curious Chandler may not have thought anything else about his comment. But the words seemed to float in the air and come back to him along with the image of the number 8 on its side. He remembered the other day, his mind had been preoccupied with the missing piece of the puzzle needed to solve their recent murders he had barely paid attention to Mansell at the time.

"What's it say?" Mansell taunted words.

Chandler finally turned to Block, curious how the doctor would know the line of Basen's tattoo, she had said it was a bit of bad poetry, it may have been famous bad poetry for all Chandler knew he wasn't that well versed. He opened his mouth to ask if it was a well-known line when Block's drink soaked his face. Chandler put his hand up at the last moment to block the glass but was short of stopping the cold liquid from drenching it. The ice cubes stung his check and nose.

As soon as Block let the drink go he turned and ran into one of the hotels many vestibules. Chandler shock initially immobilized him but he quickly recovered and ran after the doctor. He brought the mic up to his mouth.

"Miles-CRACK-knows-CRACK-oo." It was the only thing Miles heard in his ear. Just enough of the fluid from Block's glass made it into Chandler's mic rendering it useless for communication.

The fire door to the stairs was open like Vivi knew it would be. The floor she entered was deserted but she could hear humming. She paused to get her bearings not sure if the sound was coming from above or below her due to the acoustics of the stairwell. She decided it was coming from below and started down the stairs. It was coming up on a quarter to 8 so she knew this would have to be quick. She didn't want to be missed from the dining room plus Bach was here she had seen him but lost sight during the mingling. Most everyone she spoke with was familiar with Bach but did not have any misplaced words for the doctor, however one or two people sounded reserved when directly asked and Vivi had made a mental note that she would speak to them again.

Vivi only had to go down one flight to find what she was looking for. The usher was leaning against the wall smoking a hand rolled cigarette that had a familiar smell of burning skunk and was humming a tune being played on an old radio that was set up on the floor. He held the smoke out to her as she approached him. She put up her hand and shook her head. He picked up a flimsy aluminum ash tray and carefully snubbed it out.

"You're going to miss dinner," he said casually. His accent didn't sound like most of the ones she had heard and wondered briefly what the difference was. She smiled at his cockiness, he didn't look like someone who could last more than a few minutes let alone long enough to miss dinner, but she had been wrong about this type of thing before and didn't have a problem being mistaken. She stepped toward him but stopped short. She had forgotten about the gun she had wrapped around her thigh. It was funny, the thing had been missing for so long now that it was back she'd gotten so used it, it was as if it had never been missing in the first place. Now that she did remember she also realized it would be an impossible thing to hide. She ran through scenarios in her mind on how she would explain it away.

While she stood trying to figure a plausible excuse there was some type of commotion in the stairwell above them. The acoustics of the stairwell again made it impossible to tell how far above them it was happening. She cocked her head to the side and listened. She could hear doors opening and closing, she decided it was above their current location.

"What's going on up there?" she wondered aloud.

"Same thing that's going on down here love." He moved towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, the sore one. She shrugged him off.

"What are they having a gang bang, it sounds like 5 people up there?" She started walking up the stairs. There was shouting and voices overlapped but she was sure she could hear Miles and Mansell.

"Where you going?" he asked. She turned to him annoyed.

"You can whack off later, I'm sure it would have been the same for me either way." She kicked off her heals and took the stairs two at a time.

Chandler chased after Block, keeping him easily in site since the room was all but deserted, his height worked as extra insurance. Block toppled chairs, a table and one of the carts a busboy was using in an attempt to hinder Chandler's progress. Chandler managed to get caught up in the cart as the busboy tried to right it and both took a tumble. Chandler kept his eyes on Block and watched him run through one of the many rooms exits. It took a few moments but Chandler was able to untangle himself first from the busboy then from the cart and finally get up off the floor. He looked around the room and didn't see Miles.

"Where was he?" He thought, "I called him ages ago." He tried the mic again.

"Miles, where are you?" Chandler was greeted with a high pitched whine. It occurred to him the mic wasn't working and Miles may have not gotten his last message at all. He dug in his pocket and fished out his phone. He ran after Block while punching in the numbers of his sergeant's cell phone.

"Miles" Miles answered the phone as short and as curt as he normally speaks.

"Miles!" Chandler panted. "My mics out, you need to join me in the stairwell."

Miles frowned at the phone. "What are you talking about?" By this time, Chandler had managed to make it to the stairwell and looked up and down trying to figure the direction of his suspect.

"Block, we need to find Block," he screamed.

"Where is he?"

"Service stairs!" Chandler screamed.

"Where did you come from?" Miles asked Basen as she met up in the stairwell.

"What are you guys doing?" Miles was slowly getting used to Basen's habit of answering every question with one of her own when she didn't appreciate the question asked.

"Chandler's looking for Block." Miles explained, "said he was in the service stairs."

"Well he's not down there. Nothings down there." She jabbed her thumb in the direction she had just come from.

"Then why were you there?" Kent asked.

"Hey boss, I think there is another set of service stairs." Mansell spoke up. "Like an east/west thing." Everyone stopped and thought of the countless possibilities where Block could have ended and where they could be looking for him.

"Call him on the radio thing." Basen pointed to Mansell's hand.

"Something's wrong with his radio," Mansell said shaking his head.

"Oy!" Basen called leaning over and down the railing. "How many sets of service stairs?" Miles raised an eyebrow wondering who she was calling too, which he turned over to Kent when a voice came back,

"Just the north and the south love."

"Where's the security office?" she asked. They could hear footsteps coming up.

"5th floor." The usher answered when he met up with them.

"Don't ask," Mansell suggested eyebrows arched.

"Won't tell." Basen answered, and then turned to Kent. "Why don't you go to the security office? Miles you go up, Mansell you come with me and we'll hit the other stairwell." They split up as Basen suggested.

After Chandler ran through the arch way and came to the door for the service stairs he hesitated only a moment before running up. He went up one flight and opened the first fire door he came too. The fire doors let him out near the bathrooms and he walked turned a tight corner and ended up in the reception area. This floor housed several conference rooms of various sizes. Each had a label either on the door or a small easel set up announcing the name of the room with a blank spot for which ever event was being held in the room. Chandler realized he couldn't look through all of them and slowed down his pace. He looked left and right and tried to remember if Block was left handed or right. He believed that would determine his most logical direction, since he was too far behind Block to see any telltale signs of which door he went through so he had to hope it wouldn't take long to check them. He skipped the first door figuring it would be too obvious. He opened and quickly looked in the next two rooms but when he came to the fourth room its set of double doors indicated to Joe the room was a good sized one so he exercised a bit of caution. He slowly turned the nob to unleash the latch then kicked the door the rest of the way open with his foot.

Basen and Mansell quickly crossed the lounge which was all but empty of any guests or staff. They made it to the service stairs and Mansell took down Basen went up. She was able to briefly thank her stars she hadn't made it any further with the usher than hello. She would have had a very difficult time trying to explain exactly where she was when the suspect she pegged for the murders was getting away. She also wonder briefly exactly why they were searching for Block, she really didn't care since she hated the guy anyway but why exactly? She realized she would never be able to search every room on this floor to find either Block or Chandler, and since catching up with Chandler was probably the better idea she opened her purse and took out her phone. She stood in a small reception area found Chandler's number in her address book and pressed call.

Chandler slowly walked into the room taking his time to listen, not wanting to be surprised by Block again. They had been surprised by him too often already. The room was set up typical long table in the middle of the room with a ring of chairs around. At one end of the room a projection screen was set up. Chandler scanned one side of the room and as he looked back, he heard before he saw what looked like a pool cue cut through the air to his left. It struck him sharply across his chest sending him down to his knees. Block brought the stick up and broke it across Chandler's back. Chandler faltered further, putting his hand and forearm down stopping short of falling completely. Then his phone rang.

Basen slowly walked past the closed doors listening and hoping Chandler's phone was on and she would recognize his ring tone. She decided it most likely didn't matter since the floor looked pretty much deserted and any ring should be investigated. She passed a set of double doors and thought she heard something and opened the door to investigate.

Block pressed the broken end of the pointer (for that's what it was not a pool cue but a pointer) into Chandler's neck.

"Get up," he hissed. Chandler obeyed but was encouraged to move faster by a sharp poke from the broken stick, the jagged end of the pole dug into his flesh and broke the skin. Chandler inhaled a quick breath and could hear the unmistakable chirp of his phone.

Basen stepped into the room and immediately pulled her gun. Block and Chandler were at the far end of the room. Block was using Chandler as a shield, a broken stick was in his hand pressed hard against Chandler's neck, blood trickled down out of the wound. Basen raised her gun and squared it at Block.

"Are you planning on shooting me?" Block scoffed at the idea.

"Yeah, that won't be a problem will it?"

"Americans' really do the witty banter in times like these?" Block smirked, a sound Vivi was disgusted by. "Do you really think you can hit me from there?" Basen didn't but she smiled just the same. Although they were only about 15 feet apart she wasn't the sharp shooter in the group that had actually been Ralphie's specialty, his sharpshooting skills had been legendary, he had tried to help Basen with her accuracy but it wasn't something that she managed to pick up. She hadn't worried too much about it at the time. Despite what you see in movies not everyone had a gun or was that accurate with it. Usually just the fact that there was a gun involved usually quelled the fight in most people. Although Block didn't seem all that dissuaded by the gun in his face, he clearly felt he had the advantage. He had managed to position Chandler almost directly in front of himself, and although there height was almost equal Chandler's broad shoulders worked as a perfect barrier, preventing Basen from getting any clear shot at Block.

"Fine." She said flatly. Chandler stared in wonder as she released her finger from the trigger grip and raised her hand but didn't drop the gun. Both Chandler and Block looked at her in disbelief. She slowly straightened her arms on an angle above her head. Basen watched carefully a Block relaxed his grip on Chandler ever so slightly when he did she angled the gun at the light fixture directly over Block and Chandler and fired. The florescent light exploded and rained down debris on them. Chandler moved away from Block giving Basen enough clearance to level her gun at him once more and shot.


	22. Chapter 22

**OMG I'm such a dork. I posted chapter 21 twice I do apologize and will buy everyone pony.  
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**Chapter 22**

Joe paced around the now cramped conference room. His muscles were tight and his hands wouldn't stop shaking, there was a sheen of sweat on his brow that wouldn't leave no matter how much he blotted it with his handkerchief. He walked over to where Mansell, Kent and Basen stood, he opened his mouth, and said nothing turned and started to pace again. They had watched him do this dance for the past half hour.

It was getting more and more difficult for Chandler to cross the entire room as it started to fill up with paramedics, techs and of course "the suits" who inevitably showed up in situations like this. The double doors on either end of the room had been open as well as the set of double doors Chandler had initially walked in. Once those doors were open it was if the flood gates had let everyone in. Basen had found a corner to hide out in. Mansell and Kent easily found her although she had secretly wished they hadn't. If less people knew where she was the less questions she would have to answer, but on the other hand she was thankful for whom she had as company.

Miles stepped up to them and gave Basen a horrible look.

"Hey, Miles you should be happy we caught a bad guy!" Basen tried to sound cheery.

"Yeah, well," he said. "We will talk about why you had that gun and, how you managed to get it through security ."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" she turned on a baby voice and leaned her head against him.

Miles nudged her with his elbow, firmly but gently, "Do you really think that would work on me?" he said narrowing his eyes first at Basen then at Kent and Mansell respectively as he saw them smile.

"I was hoping it would work." She said surrendering.

Chandler came back to the group, did his pantomime again and walked away without comments.

"Let's hope you're a better shot next time." Mansell jibed. Vivi squinted at Mansell then pretended to punch him in the stomach. She came quite close and he flinched under the anticipation of it.

"Two for flinching," she said grit her teeth and slugged him twice in the arm.

"OW! What the hell was that for?" he whined rubbing his arm.

"Knock it off you too." Miles interjected. "You're worse than my kids. Basen's already in for it, if she had killed him we would be dealing with two bodies, cause I would have killed her."

Basen was a little confused as to what all the fuss was about. There would have been no way of her getting Chandler out of that situation without her sidearm. It was a clean shoot in the states she would have been going home with a few pats on the back and more than one person offering to buy her a drink. But not here, it seemed like her stint as a British police detective was going to be the shortest in history.

Killing a suspect was never preferable Basen had only been involved in the killing of a suspect once. Shoot outs although wildly popular in Hollywood movies were not as common place in normal everyday police work. In the case today she had managed to only shoot his knee, leaving him alive but ensuring he would walk with a limp for the rest of his sorry ass life. Although she would have been happier if the bullet had hit a little higher. She had considered a follow up shot but knew she was already pushing her luck.

Chandler came over to the group once more.

"Sir," Kent suggested, "you should really have the docs look at your head." Although Chandler had caught a few pieces of the falling light bulb in his scalp he allowed the paramedics only a hurried look at his head before he was up and pacing again. He grunted at Kent's comments and walked again. He was finding it impossible to sit still and could only give a brief synopsis of what happened to Miles and the other officers when it came time to question him. So it had been up to Vivi to give the low down on the shooting, however why they had starting chasing Block in the first place was somewhat of a mystery, from what they could ascertain it had something to do with Basen's tattoo but the crucial details still alluded them.

Chandler's inability to calm down and focus immediately after the shooting required the team to stay longer than was necessary and everyone was eager to leave. Once Miles managed to divert the issue of Basen and her sig. he focused his attention to get Chandler to stop dancing across the carpet. Kent walked over while Miles attempted to get an account of what happened. He immediately envied the older gentleman, the quickness and ease he managed to get Chandler to focus was surprising, he assumed it was because Miles had needed to use his authoritative manner in different situations, at home and during his work. When Kent had attempted to speak with Chandler he was unable to garner his attention for more than a few seconds. Kent was aware of a special bond between Miles and Chandler which fluctuated between a father/son relationship to a straight out friendship. Miles seemed to do nothing more than speak a few well-placed words to Chandler and he calmed down. Kent hoped that soon Chandler would view him as a confidant, but he assumed Chandler didn't let too many people get close.

Kent then flashed a look to Basen who was still hiding in the corner. Thinking Joe had let Basen get close. Kent wasn't sure if this realization saddened him, made him angry or made him jealous. He had supposed it made some kind of sense. Chandler had saved her life now she had saved his, where they even or still indebted to each other? Emerson didn't want to think about it, and he was losing his focus by the time he found it again he realized he had missed half of Chandler's story. Basen and Mansell had now joined the group hear the part of the tale they didn't know. Coincidentally by the time Kent started listening Basen stopped. Joe recounted his conversation with Block and explained what happened the minute Block recited Basen's tattoo. Vivi stopped paying attention, her heart stopped beating and she felt a cold grip of panic close her throat.

It was true it was a bad bit of poetry, but what Basen had told them about it being by Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings was a lie, well sort of. Jennings was the author of the entire poem that held the line however Jennings was a figment of Ronnie's imagination. Someone he had made up to get away with writing poetry so he wouldn't have been poked fun of while in college. He even had a few items published in the small college newspaper that couldn't have possibly had made it all the way here. Block could have made it up, there are no true original ideas but Basen knew she was rationalizing. She was trying to run through possibilities as to why he would know anything about her. Unfortunately Block was safely sedated at the hospital at this time. She supposed she could go and questioned him. They would be questioning him shortly, she even seriously considered the idea of going right away and waiting until he was able to talk, but remembered she had gotten a ride from Kent and she calculated the chances of talking him into taking her to the hospital were slim. She went back to brooding in the corner chewing on their latest case facts when Chandler walked up to her.

"I would think you would be happier since we have your suspect in custody, shouldn't that offer some sort of comfort?"

"I would be happier if we could have talked to him." After the shooting Block had let forth a relentless slew of profanities that would have caused a sailor to blush, so harsh was his barrage that they were unable to get a coherent sentence out of him. The paramedics were forced to sedate Block before they could treat and transport him.

"Agreed," Chandler said nodding. He looked down at his hands and opened and closed them several times, stretching the muscles. He saw Basen looking at him and said, "I can't seem to get my hands to stop shaking."

"It's the adrenalin." She offered. "You've never been involved in a shooting?"

"Of course I have," he said a little incensed at the inference that gun fire off set him.

"Of course," she said smiling. "I do apologize, I didn't mean it to sound snarky." Chandler fought against the smile that wanted to spread across his face. "Yes, yes, I know how to say I'm wrong and apologize, let's not make a major case because of it." She said looking away from him. His smile just spread wider.

"You know not everything is so reserved here. We've had more than our fair share of intense situations." Chandler explained sitting down next to her.

"I'm sure you have, and you know not everything in the states is a Wild West shoot out. I can count on my fingers how many times I've used my gun in the line of duty."

"Not the first time you've shot a suspect?"

"No"

"Have you ever killed someone?"

"Directly or indirectly?" She asked avoiding his eyes, instead she looked out of the window. Chandler thought it was an odd question and decided to change the subject.

"I understand you caught a ride in from Kent?" he questioned and stated at the same time.

"Yes," she confirmed, this was something he had already known. He and Kent had this discussion just a few moments ago. Kent behaved a little strangely when Chandler explained he could take her home, but Joe waved it off. His tone had been slightly sharper than he intended and it did sound like an order more than just the off handed remark he had intended it to be so he attributed Kent's unease to that.

"I will take you." He said flatly. He needed to talk to her but again found himself in another conundrum, how to approach the new subject as delicately as possible.

"Yeah, whatever." It made no never mind to Vivi who gave her a ride, she only paused a moment when the thought she had accepted 'rides' from plenty of men crossed her mind, but it went right back and focused on Block, his barrage of obscenities and her tattoo to question Chandler's offer of a ride any further.

They drove in near silence, Chandler unsure exactly how to approach the subject that Basen was currently wrestling with. Both thinking what the other was afraid to voice, exactly how did Block know about Basen's tattoo.

Joe stopped the car in front of her building. His hands had stopped shaking but his muscles were still stiff. He gripped the steering wheel his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, not wanting her to leave without answering his questions, sure he should say something but unsure what he it should be and unsure how to stop her.

"Thank you," she said when she realized the car had stopped in front of the tiny house she was renting. "One of these days, I'm going to have to get the hang of this place." Vivi smiled at him, opened the car door and started to step out.

"Oh," she exclaimed and leaned back into the car, she reached out her hand to his head. He flinched back from her

"Your head's bleeding again" she said. The annoyances clear in her tone, did he think she was going to attack him? She pulled back and got out of the car.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he screamed after her. "It's just, you know," he pointed at his head, unconsciously making a gun with his thumb and forefinger. "You startled me."

"Come in and I'll stitch you up." She said mildly.

"I..." he stammered.

"I don't molest everyone on the first date, come in and I'll put a bandage on it or drive home with blood in your eye, it makes no never mind to me." He reached up to the top of his head and his fingers came back wet and sticky with blood.

"I'll come in for a moment." He said, putting the car in park and turning off the ignition. He truly didn't see the harm in coming in for a few moments, this was the perfect opportunity to broach the subject of Block and her tattoo. He may also get more information about her past, or at least what she and Kent had spoken about.

He followed her up the quick flight of stairs to her door, waited as she fumbled with her key and followed her into her flat. Inside he made a quick look around, her house was sparsely furnished. He assumed she was still getting settled. His preliminary investigation told him she was single and living alone. There was an old oversized sofa stuffed into a corner, no TV which he thought was odd. There was music playing but he didn't see a stereo. He wondered where the music was coming from and why it was playing at all while she wasn't here. There was a small rodent cage in the corner only large enough for a hamster or gerbil. And he noticed the books. There were books everywhere, on the sofa, on a wicker chest she was using as a coffee table, on the floor and in the window box. Milk crates and boxes held even more.

"Take a seat in the kitchen, that's where all the magic happens!" she raised her eyebrows and smiled. Joseph furrowed his brow. No one got her here, the only thing she truly hated.

"The lights better in the kitchen. I can see more, plus there's a little more," she jutted her elbows out, "room." He nodded, still not understanding her completely and went into the kitchen. She was right, the kitchen was much bigger than the living room. There was a tea kettle on the stove and a sugar bowl on the counter, there was a table in the corner that would seat about 6 if there weren't so many books on it but other than a few other meager items there wasn't much to her kitchen.

"Help yourself to anything, I may have some drinks in the fridge!" She called, he could hear her voice fade as she moved into another room.

He looked quickly around the kitchen, interested in the items she had. There was a bizarre contraption on her counter next to the sink. He frowned at it, randomly pushed some buttons and the machine seemed to come alive and growl. He jumped back startled and began pressing the buttons again, willing it to stop.

"Hey isn't that great! It's my new coffeemaker, it can make a mean cup of coffee in just a few seconds. Did you want some coffee or tea?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I seemed to have…" She ignored him pressed a button and silenced the machine once again.

"Sit down," She gestured to a white stool in front of the stove. He obediently sat down, taking on the air of a misbehaving child being disciplined at school. She put down the first aid kit she was holding and turned on the light.

"What's with the music?" He asked.

"I leave it on for Cyril St. Johnson." When he looked at her questioningly, she further explained, "The hamster." She pointed back to the cage in the corner. "Right now, I don't trust him to be without it. He's escaped several times and ended up in my tub. I grew tired of that and tried different ways to keep him calm when I was out for the day. So far the music works the best," she smiled sheepishly. Then she looked at his head again. "I'm going to need more light for this." His eyes flashed up as if he would have been able to see the source of his injury, but to no avail.

She leaned over him to turn on the light above the stove. He was able to catch the scent of her perfume when she did this. She reached up and took something out of her hair that resembled the pencil she normally kept there, when she did he was treated to the sight of her hair exploding around her face again. This was one of the few times he had seen her hair not trapped in some type of device. Vivi's hair down had the effect of making her look younger and more playful as opposed to the haphazard pony tail or bun she typically kept it in for work. She only had her hair down for a brief second before she scooped it back on top of her head and inserted the pencil thing again. He was about the question the logic in the gesture when he realized she had pulled the tendrils of hair that had been hanging in her face to join the others.

She stepped over to the sink and washed her hands. Then stepped back over to him, grabbed his head and leaned him toward her. Vivi took a wrapping of gauze and pressed it against his scalp. He yelped and pulled back.

"Hmmmm, I think there is something in there." She grabbed his head again and leaned him towards her. "Wait, I may need a magnifying glass." She left the room and quickly returned holding a magnifying glass and a lamp. She moved him around set up the lamp and set to work. She was quiet for a while.

Joe took this opportunity to try to relax his muscles. He closed his eyes and willed himself to loosen up. It had been unnerving to be held captive by Basen's suspect. It was something he had expected for Basen but not for himself. The pressure from where the jagged stick pierced his skin still stung on his neck. But he had been even more confused when he thought that Basen was giving up. Raising her hands above her head he didn't want to think she was conceding the fight. He would have been surprised if she surrendered any fight, even one she knew she wouldn't win, that just didn't seem like something she could or would ever do. When the light bulb had exploded he had forgotten to breath. He knew Basen hadn't lowered the gun for a reason but the odd angle at which she had held it didn't fill him with confidence that she was aiming deftly at anything. When the shot rang out close to his head it was deafening. He had almost forgotten what he should do. He remembered falling away from Block instead of moving away from him. Now in the artificial light of her kitchen he felt safer, slightly more at ease. They had continuously argued with Vivi about her gun happy trigger finger but in this case it had been beneficial.

With his eyes closed his muscles relaxed, he started to breathe deeply. It was valuable in helping him repose himself, however it allowed him to inhale her perfume. She smelled sweet and citrusy at the same time. It was the scent that overpowered him the moment she walked into his office the first day. The scent he tried continuously to remove from his mind. He opened his eyes hoping to break the spell it had over him and realized his mistake. The swell of her breast was right in his line of sight and he was unable to look away. As she moved above him it was a horrible tease, one moment he could see the perfect amount of flesh, the next it was all but gone. The smooth skin looked as if it needed to be touched, to be felt, to be tasted. He fought with his mind to remove the image of his hand reaching out, placing the fingers on the skin tracing the outline of her breast, Vivi's cry of joy woke him from his dream.

"See, found it!" She pulled away from him holding the tweezers and a small piece of glass. She looked down at him smiling but it faded as she caught his eye.

Vivi truly tried not to think of Joe at all. Miles' words of caution knocked on the door of her mind but she refused to answer it. For some reason she still wanted to cling to her gay theory, it was easier to accept that than to admit her small fascination with him. She even briefly thought of her talk with Kent, she would have to figure that out later, tonight she didn't seem to have enough time.

Vivi had been sure he hated her from the moment she walked into his office. She could tell whatever information Joe was given before they were introduced prejudiced him towards her and from that moment on she never thought of him as anything more than a tool, well her view had since changed slightly. He brought her back from the dead, although sometimes she thought he regretted that decision. There was dinner and their almost kiss and now here, she had him in her apartment. Although it was true she didn't sleep with everyone she met she was narcissistic enough to believe she could.

She continued to look down in his eyes while he looked up into hers. If this was a movie it would be the time when the main characters threw inhibition to the wind and either professed their love or had wild crazy perfect sex. And there was something right in his soft blue eyes, something that made it impossible to stop looking at them and impossible to want to look at them.

"Maybe I should go." He said suddenly. Realizing if he didn't he would do something he should do or think he could do.

"Yes, I think you better had." She said nodding and looking away from him.

He stood up, pulling himself up to his full height, towering over her. She had never felt so small next to him. For a moment she wanted him to stay, needed him to stay. But instead she walked behind him following him to the front door, waited in the tiny entry way while he put on his tuxedo jacket she didn't quite remember him removing. Tell him to stay, the voice in her head recited over and over. But her mouth refused to open.

He was ready to go, hand on the knob, ready to walk out when he turned back. He turned back and kissed her. No hesitation, no slow meandering he had the last time they were about to kiss. He pressed himself into her, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her into him as he pressed into her. She risked embarrassment and opened her mouth slightly wider and pushed her tongue out, a bold move that he reciprocated in kind.

Then just as suddenly as it started it was over, he pulled back opened the door and said a quiet good night. She closed the door behind him, silently engaged the bolt, turned around put her back to the door and slid down. She looked up at the knob and turned that lock as well. Unsure what she was thinking when she did it.

"That was close," she said to the empty room. "A little too close."

Chandler stood on the top landing for a moment before he turned around. His heart racing in his chest again, the time spent trying to calm himself down wasted.

Knock, he said to himself, willing his hand up to the door. He laid his palm flat on the wood, an eternity passed as he forced his fingers to curl into a fist. Now just pull the hand back and bring it forward, it's that simple. But his hand didn't move. He cursed his impotence. True Vivi Basen would be the wrong person to try his new found courage on. His newly found battle against his reluctance of intimacy with another person could be better suited on someone else, anyone else. He had silently agreed with Miles on that one, not that he would have let him know it.

After what seemed like ages he turned around, dropped down the steps, got into his car and drove away.

A tall figure sat in a vehicle just a few meters away, hidden and inconspicuous. If Chandler had driven in his direction he would have been dumbfounded to see the man Vivi shot sitting hunched behind the wheel of the dark sedan. Ronald Block watched as the DI drove off. It was a little comforting to know that bitch didn't sleep with everyone. But it didn't matter anymore. Soon he would have her for himself and she would be sorry. Sorry for screwing with he and his brother's plans. Sorry for scarring his face, sorry for shooting his brother, and putting him in the hospital, sorry for making him want her so bad. Sorry for just being alive. The American detective would be dealt with soon enough, but first he needed to get his brother. Then there would be hell to pay.

**This is the end of the first part but not necessarily the end of the book. I'm working on incorporating Buchan into the next part a bit more. I do appreciate the few people who've stayed with me and hope you forgive the editing mistakes. If you can be patient just a bit longer I'm sure to have Part 2 up in a bit. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Miles arrived at the hospital and found Basen in the waiting area. She was slouched down in not only the ugliest chairs Miles had seen but what also looked to be the most uncomfortable as well. Her feet were up on the table in front of her and her usual sweater was draped across her like a blanket. He walked over to her, wasn't sure what he wanted to ask her first so the question ended up coming out ridiculous.

"How's news?"

She slid her eyes up in his direction but didn't straighten up. Her eyes were red and blood shot, she looked as if she had been there all night. He slipped into a chair next to her, looked around waited then asked,

"Where's Chandler?"

She finally straightened up, removed her feet from the table and rubbed at her eyes.

"No idea."

"Really?" Miles said in mild surprise and looked around again.

"You know he doesn't follow me around like a puppy dog. I don't lead him around by a leash. I know what you are thinking Miles and I didn't come here with him I got here about 3 hours ago on my own, sans your boy." She yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes again. "I'll resume my attempt to control his mind next week, today I'm too tired."

Miles knew his protective nature was lost on the American. It was true he was nervous that Basen's reputation could harm Chandler, it was true that he didn't believe in office dating or supervisor/subordinate relationships. But what was most true, what had worried him from the moment he caught the look slide across Chandler's face, was he didn't want to see Chandler hurt again. He doubted he would have sour feelings towards Basen 12 months ago when he had encourage Chandler to break out of the shell he had built, protecting himself from an intimate relationship, or any relationship for that matter. Encouraging him to ask out that lab tech, Miles had actually held promise of something developing out of the DI Norroy thing since they seemed so much alike. But what was most positive was how Joe had warmed up to Morgan Lamb, he had actually seen him smile because of that one, Joe had been calmer and more in control after she gave him the rubber band to wear around his wrist.

Then it went wrong, terribly wrong. Miles couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for Chandler's distress after Morgan's murder. He had encouraged Chandler to get involved with life. He hadn't necessarily shoved the two together however would Chandler have allowed himself to get emotionally attached without a little prodding from Miles? Miles had convinced himself it would help Chandler and his peculiar ways to have something, someone to focus his attention on, after he had watched the younger man drink himself into a stupor while on the Kray case.

Miles hadn't initially understood the strong emotional attachment Chandler had developed with Lamb, it had truly only been 3 days, but apparently she was able to accomplish quite a bit in that time. After that night as Chandler slipped into OCD overdose, Miles and Chandler had had screaming matches, heartfelt talks and days of complete silence before Chandler returned to the former shadow of his old self. It had taken longer than Miles had initially expected and had been more trouble than he had wanted to devote to the problem, but guilt has a way of making you do things you weren't expecting to do and Chandler finally seemed to be making progress. Miles was just allowing himself a pat on the back when the American had walked in.

Miles knew he was in trouble from the moment Vivi arrived at the office but, like Chandler was comforted by the thought that she wouldn't be around long enough to make an impact on anyone. Miles knew he didn't need anything to topple the balance of Chandler's already fractured emotions and the fact that Chandler hated her immediately helped as well. He hadn't counted on her getting under Chandler's skin as much as she did. Although the longer he knew her the more it made since, she was smart and quick like Chandler but where they split, what really made the difference was how she was an extrovert as opposed to Chandler's introvert. Miles convinced himself the attraction was most likely not sexual at all but more of an admiration of sorts. She represented something Chandler wanted to have, confidence.

"I don't think you are trying to control his mind." Miles stated flatly.

"Just figured last night involved more than a simple 'ride'?" she asked. "Figured I wouldn't be able to help myself and we'd have a Bathsheba syndrome on our hands?"

"My Catholicism is a little rusty but I think I know where you think I'm going."

"Look can we take a shortcut cause that last sentence just about killed me?"

"Look, I just don't want to see him hurt, alright?"

"And how would I do that Miles?" She asked.

Miles put his head down, suddenly studying his feet, the scuffed brown leather of the old shoes seemed much more interesting at the moment than telling the story to Basen. He turned to her, opened his mouth and slowly told her about Morgan Lamb.

"See now it might have been better if you didn't tell me that," she said stretching. "Now I feel a little bad from him instead of feeling sorry for him."

There was some type of commotion and Miles noted several doctors running through the area where he and Basen sat.

"That's been happening all night," she explained. "I talked to the duty officer posted around Bach's room when I got here. They have been having problems with equipment, medication mix ups, alarms, electricity, everything's screwy. There was even a situation where 3 patients coded as the same time, which from what I could tell is highly unusual. I was trying to help security who said I was getting in the way and they pushed me here." Basen sat up and put the sweater on, "Can you imagine Miles, they said I was in the way." She used a mock tone of shock when she said the last bit. Miles figured she knew just the right amount of being in the way.

"Come on let's see what we can find out about your man."

Before they approached the hall a nurse stopped them. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Miles said bringing out his ID "DS Ray Miles, DC Vivi Basen. We wanted a status on Block." The color seemed to drain from the nurse's face when she let out a choked screech, turned and hurried away. Miles and Basen exchange quizzical glances before starting their own sprit down the hall only to be blocked again, this time by a tall doctor with an orderly behind him.

"Can I help you officers?" The doctor asked. His name tag read Mudd and Miles couldn't think of a more appropriate name. He had the air of a slick used car salesman. Basen had an urge to punch his face but didn't think the situation warranted it, yet.

"Where's Block!" Miles demanded, ignoring the urge to correct the doctor's terminology. He could tell there was something happening and this doctor was trying to tiptoe past it.

Basen resisted dropping her hand to her hip and instead positioned herself behind Miles. Dr. Mudd had brought his muscle Basen would be Miles'. Quick words were passed between Miles and the doctor, Vivi could tell Miles was about to push his way through to get to Blocks room when she felt a hand on her arm and spun around.

Chandler stood in the hallway with a worried look on his face. She had half a mind to ignore him and turn her attention back to Miles when she instead asked what was wrong.

"We need to talk." He said in a low voice.

She thumbed her finger over to Miles "Yeah but-"Chandler grabbed her arm and pulled her into a lav. The room was achingly small even with only a toilet and sink, but with the two of them in it was even worse.

"I needed to apologize." Basen put up her hands. She was familiar with the morning after regret although it was usually when she had actually slept with the person. It made her wonder briefly how screwed up Joe was, since she was sure it wasn't her.

"No need to apologize Chandler, it was a bad move on both our parts. We shouldn't have been there in the first place. Miles would bust a gut if he knew what happened." With her back still to the door she reached out and grabbed the knob. "No harm no foul, we'll never speak of the short cut again."

Chandler furrowed his brow at the last bit not understanding. Instead he shook his head, "That's not what I meant." He put his hands on either side of her checks and pulled her mouth up to his. This surprised her just as much as the first kiss had.

She pushed back from him "That's the opposite of what I thought you were going to say." He pulled her towards him again.

If she had been more prepared she didn't think she would have been quite caught off guard when the door pushed open into her back throwing her on top of Chandler, making him loose his balance and causing him to fall into the sink.

"What the hell are you two doing," Miles shouted angrily, "Block's gotten away."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Basen," Chandler stood in front of Vivi's desk waiting for her attention.

Basen sat hunched over her desk furiously scribbling on a piece of paper with her phone jammed in the crook of her neck between her shoulder and ear. She held up a finger to indicate she would be with him in a minute. It usually was longer than a minute and Chandler would tire of waiting and go back into his office. She had done this more than once and he was use to her rebuff. He refused to be ignored this time and waited. She shifted her eyes to him and realized her tactic wasn't going to work, he was going to have his say. She sighed heavily and nodded.

"I'm going to have to call you back," she said into the phone. Chandler listened to her one sided conversation.

"No, I still have some more to give you, plus I want to see how brilliant you are." Vivi paused and listened for a moment or two nodded then added, "Yeah OK ," she smiled broadly, "Yeah I dare you," she flashed a look at Chandler again, the smile faltered a little – then into the phone she said: "No really I gotta go, some things bugging me. OK I'll call you back." She put the hand set back in the cradle and looked up at Chandler.

"Can I speak to you in my office?" Chandler asked.

"No," she answered shaking her head, she was only half kidding but knew what this conversation was going to be about and where it was going to go. She wasn't ready for it and had avoiding Chandler for the better part of the week. Chandler smiled down at her, his smile hovered somewhere between condescending and sympathetic.

Basen stood up and followed Chandler into his office. The conversation was long overdue, about 2 months, but it didn't make it easier for either side. The office was silent. Riley, Miles and Kent watched the small procession to Chandler's office out of the corners of their eyes. Everyone had an idea of what the conversation was going to be and not even Mansell had a smart comment to offer.

"Close the door and sit down please." Chandler sat down behind his desk carefully touching his watch then his pen, OCD playing only a minor part today. Vivi closed the door but stood in front of his desk. Chandler raised his eyebrows at her then looked down at the chair next to her. He understood she wasn't going to take a seat, her small protest. It wouldn't be Basen unless she made her feelings known in some way. Chandler was starting to learn Basen's tricks, he had a few of his own on dealing with her.

"Can I ask where you are today?"

"Come one Chandler you know where I am." She said throwing up her hands.

"Where," he repeated.

"In your office, standing in front of you," she replied sarcastically.

"Seriously," Joe said waiting patiently.

She resigned herself and collapsed into the chair. "I'm working on a few things."

"What exactly?" he asked. He knew Basen had been chasing down every lead they had on Block.

It had been 3 months since they lost Block from the hospital and the trail had quickly gone cold, like they sometimes do. Block literary disappeared from the hospital. Kent had watched the surveillance tapes from when Block escaped. There were many and combined with the duty officer's statement they yielded little more than shadows. The issues and problems the hospital had that night transferred over to the CCTV tapes. No clear picture of Block escaping showed on the tapes. They suspected he had assistance and were able to confirm a nurse and their other "suspect" assisted in his escape, but beyond that they didn't have much more. The electrical problems and security issues they had all night had wreaked havoc on the security tapes. They were unable compile anything usable or even confirm with any amount of certainty that Block had even left the hospital.

The detectives spoke with colleagues, co-workers and acquaintances and could find nothing of consequence other than the fact that Block had no close friends and no one knew of any relatives or even where he had come from. It was as if Block didn't exist before a year ago. He arrived in London and "opened" a medical practice, however they could find no patients, office or hospital that knew of his work or even his area of expertise. He seemed to be riding on reputation alone.

Miles researched his background and again came up empty. No country of origin, nothing regarding where he was, or where he had been, nothing could be confirmed of Block. Any references he had supplied or what people had remembered about him mentioning of his past, dead ended. It was looking more and more as if Block was the ultimate con man, although they could find no one who would admit to being swindled by him.

They'd searched and re-searched Block's home and office. Basen spent the majority of her time in Block's apartment. If there were two killers out there they were not sharing the same apartment. The home didn't seem lived it. Basen saw no evidence that two people shared the apartment, there was only a single bedroom, and similar clothes in only one size, a full pantry with dry goods but an empty refrigerator. The apartment was immaculate. It had been set up like a furniture store showroom copied down to the last "lived in" detail. Every knick knack had a place and looked as it had never been touched. There was even a book opened on the coffee table with a pair of glasses tossed causally on top, as if someone had been interrupted while reading. Basen wondered if anyone but herself and Block ever set foot in the apartment and she had her suspicions if Block truly had.

The tech team went through the apartment twice at Basen's insistence and found nothing. No hair no fibers. The tooth brush, hair brush and razors were swept for DNA and none was found. The bed was stripped and drains were swabbed but everything came up empty confirming her suspicions more and more. It truly looked as if Block had dropped off the face of the earth. Her biggest questions was if he wasn't living at this address where was he living, and spending most of his time?

As the weeks droned on most everyone was assigned to new cases. Chandler kept Basen primary on Block for as long as he could. She assisted with other investigations occasion but her main focus was and always had been on Block. But other than Basen's hunch they had no evidence against Block for the Mellon/Beard/Hardy murders. Basen had truly been counting on her wiles to get Block to confess something the night of the fund raiser that would have help push him from a person of interest straight into a suspect. Now other than his attack against Chandler they had nothing tying him to any of their victims.

"Well, I've called a few friends," She confessed. "The way I figure it, he's too old to have started from scratch. Most people his age have been killing for awhile. I don' t think he just arrived and fell into this, one killing might have been a mistake, the second may have well been an attempt to cover the first and throw us off the trail, but by Carissa, he was liking it, a little too much. So either he was locked in a cave too long where he couldn't hurt anyone or he was somewhere else building up to this. I have a friend at the BAU at Quantico and a friend at Interpol. I've asked them to review any unsolved cases that match ours."

"I'm afraid I can't spare you any more time to devote to this."

"Don't do this to me Chandler." She said shaking her head. The fact that there were no leads actually piqued her curiosity, she enjoyed the challenge. She knew she was only moments from a break.

"This is not a decision I came to lightly Vivi." She noticed he said Vivi and not Basen. She was not ignorant to the fact he learned how to get her to do what he wanted and needed her to do. It took him long enough.

"I need you on the Pace murder with Riley. You can still keep your Block files, they will still be yours however it can no longer be your only full time job."

She got up out of the chair and started to back out of his office.

"Let me make just one more phone call. One more," she said putting up her finger. "Then I'll get straight to Pace with Riley, promise," She took the finger and drew an X over her heart. "I have to talk to a man about a washing machine." He assumed the reference was another bizarre American colloquialism. As he watched her leave his office, he smiled as she walked away. He had no idea that within the next 3 hours they would be in a race to save her life.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Chandler touched the face of his watch sitting on his desk. He picked up the time piece taped the glass put it down straightened it, picked it up again, put it to his ear, nodded at the tick it produced, put it down and repositioned it. 126 minutes. 126 minutes had passed since Basen had walked out of his office with the insistence that she had one more phone call to make before moving on to other duties. He hadn't been concerned when she didn't take the call at her desk but instead picked up her cell phone and walked out. That was the last time he saw her. It had been the last time anyone saw her. She hadn't returned, after half an hour Chandler was upset she would treat the office like this, after an hour he started to take her disrespect personally. Now after 2 hours his anger was replaced by concern. He stood up and stepped out of his office.

"Where, exactly is Basen?" he asked looking around the room. Kent sat at his desk, eyes wide and glossy from watching too many CCTV tapes. Mansell was near sleep reviewing witness reports. Riley sat behind a large stack of files at her desk and Miles was leaning back in his chair with the phone clamped to his ear. Chandler stopped in the middle of the room and impatiently put his hands to his hips.

"I don't know sir," Riley said with an impatient tone of her own in her voice. "She said she was making one last phone call, would only take a moment she said." Riley involuntarily snorted. "She left and hasn't been back since."

"Who did she call?" Chandler asked walking over to Riley's desk.

"Hell if I know." Riley was looking forward to a little of Basen's American wisdom to help with her case. It appeared to be a simple domestic but there was something about it that was off and she was hoping adding Basen to the investigation would be beneficial.

"What's up sir?" Mansell asked curious to focus his attention on anything but the damn witness reports he was currently working on.

"Basen seems to be missing. I asked her 2 hours ago to help Riley."

"She probably went to the smoker's lounge," Mansell said standing up and grabbing his jacket. "I'll go look."

"She doesn't smoke," Chandler said, "And what is the 'smoker's lounge'?"

"Yeah well," Mansell left the room before he needed to answer any other questions.

The smokers lounge wasn't really a lounge and wasn't really where anyone went to smoke, although on occasion smoking had been done. Basen had pointed out too many of the rooms inside the building had full glass walls or doors and there seemed to be an overabundance of camera's and traffic outside. She had wondered confidentially to Mansell if there was a place where one could go for more privacy. Mansell had initially been offended that she directed this question to him. He was insulted he had the type of reputation that would know how and where to sneak off to, but then he decided to be insulted later since he actually did know of a place.

Chandler didn't think he appreciated the fact Basen would purposely ignore his order to move her investigation into Block to the back burner. He thought they had move past this part, past the insubordination, past the times where she would pushed back at him in an attempt to get her way. He wanted to expect more from his detective, more from Basen.

He walked over to her desk to see if he could find any indication of what she was working on or a clue of who she was calling. His fingers skimmed over the papers and files on her desk. Small pieces of paper mostly scrap and on occasion wrappers were taped to her desk in what Chandler felt was an incoherent fashion. Basen liked taking and keeping notes on her desk versus keeping notes on the computer or in some type of binder or folder. Chandler had made the mistake on his nightly cleaning and threw away what he had felt was trash from Basen's desk. Problem was Basen didn't feel it was trash. A strange heated argument ensued and afterwards an agreement that Basen would tape down important paperwork to prevent it from being thrown away, had been agreed upon.

She had her own system to keep it organized but to Chandler it still looked like rubbish. Random numbers and phrases were written on several pieces of paper taped to the desk. He recognized one as a list of books Block had in his apartment, there was also a series of dots on a piece of paper that Chandler wasn't sure of the meaning, on a small square yellow "stickey" was the name "HOTCH" and an international American number. He remembered briefly that she mentioned having friends in the FBI and wondered if this was the person. Is that who Basen had called? Surely she would have taken the number with her if she were to call.

"Anything useful?" Miles asked, walking over to the desk.

"Not that I can tell," Chandler answered, again running his fingers over the papers on the desk. He then touched each note individually with his index finger. Joe silently counted them, when he finished he did it again.

"Chandler" Miles said, interrupting the count. He looked down at Chandler and tried not to allow concern anywhere near him. Chandler was becoming nervous, falling into his OCD habits were his way of coping and it had only been a few hours since Basen walked out of the office, panic was a bit premature. If Miles allowed himself to be concerned then it would give Joe's anxious nature a fertile ground to propagate on and right now they didn't need that. Basen could quite easily be in the rest room or still on the phone somewhere out of the way or she may have ignored Chandlers request completely and snuck out of the office to continue to pursue her case on Block. Miles didn't think the last part to be true. Basen, although initially a pain in the ass had started too grown on him and he quickly learned there was a method to her madness. Direct in-subordination wasn't something he thought she would do.

* * *

><p>The smoker's lounge was tucked into a small alleyway, that had previously been used to move prisoners or suspects out of the building to a waiting transport but after a renovation some years ago it became quickly forgotten. Only those who had worked in the building for longer than 20 years still remembered it. Now it severed as a respite for those who needed more privacy that the janitor's closet would allow.<p>

As a precaution, markers were set out to let others know when the spot was occupied. Mansell noted none of those markers at the moment. Of course in the darkening evening it was difficult to see anything. He took out his phone and used it for a flashlight.

"Did you try calling her cell phone?" Mansell asked Chandler. He was starting to recognize the tale tell images of panic just creeping up into his DI's face. His fingers again started to fidget with items on the desk, Miles knew he needed to get him focused on something instead of sitting here wondering what may have happened. Miles also knew from his experience as a parent, your mind can fill the unknown with wild outlandish images if it didn't have something to center on.

Realization spread across Chandler's face.

"No, I actually didn't think of it, thank you Miles." Chandler smiled stood up and started to walk in his office.

"Chandler." Miles stopped him.

"Yes?"

"If she's trying to avoid you she won't answer her phone if you call. Use mine or Kent's she may answer ours before yours." Chandler nodded in agreement, understanding and took the phone out of Miles' outstretched hand. Chandler punched the numbers on the phone, he didn't need to bother with the contacts list, he knew the number by heart.

* * *

><p>Mansell stepped into the short alley but saw no one. He turned back and was about to head into the building when he heard the ring of a telephone. He briefly looked at his own phone but quickly realized it wasn't his ring tone. This one sounded more like an old telephone and it was coming from somewhere on the ground. He looked down and again used his phone as a flash light to illuminate the area around him. After a few moments he located the phone and picked it up, it had stopped ringing and he could see the "missed call" on the display and there was something sticky and wet on it. He walked over to a street light for a better view and immediately wished he hadn't. The street light picked up a large crack in the screen but it also helped confirm the unmistakable deep maroon red of blood. Mansell went back to the squad room in a dead run.<p> 


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Basen's phone sat broken upon Mansell's desk. It turned Riley's stomach to see it and she wished they would put it away, nothing else useful could be gained from it. She had been beating herself up since they discovered Vivi missing. She had been so angry when Vivi hadn't come back from her "phone call", Riley had started silently cursing Basen. The presumed reputation Basen had earned from the states was slowly being replaced by the real reputation she was garnering here. Riley had a few choice words for what she was going to say to Basen when she finally came back, but now, now she couldn't believe she had thought those harsh thoughts, had such evils words in her mind. The phone did nothing but mock her.

The stain had been swabbed and confirmed human blood, a longer test was needed to confirm if it was Basen's. Mansell's manhandling of the phone removed the option of getting any valuable prints from the phone although they didn't really think anyone other than Basen used the phone. And true to the reputation of the Smokers Lounge, there were no camera's trained on the alley, there weren't even cameras on that side of the street which disturbed Chandler to no end.

Chandler was currently beside himself with worry. His mind didn't seem to want to leave the witness room the night Morgan Lamb was stabbed. Any time he wasn't focused his mind would wanted to Morgan's still body lying bloody on the floor, and then her face would quickly be replaced with Vivi's. The two images jockeyed for position in his mind. Their stanch refusal to leave his mind was slowly driving him mad.

Chandler had tried sitting at Basen's desk again to review her evidence. The disorganization disturbed him too much and he was unable to discern anything useful while sitting there. He fought the urge to tear Basen's desk apart. The detective had been working on the Block case for over two months and no one could make heads or tails of her notes, files or computer.

Mansell was sent to her home to see if she had any different notes or files there. Plenty of cops took case information home to continue with the investigation on their down time. Basen had been so obsessed with Block, Mansell was sure he would at least find a copy of the notes she already had at the office, he hadn't held out hope for much else. He went reluctantly not exactly comfortable with the idea that they were investigating one of their own, but understood how it was necessary, if Basen had a line on the suspect, if she was getting too close to Block, he may have found a way to do away with her.

Kent and Miles walked into the office.

"Sir, we found something."

"Wonderful," Chandler said clapping his hands together, "What did you find?"

"Although there were no cameras on the side street there is one on the shop across the street," Kent explained. After a bad robbery attempt the camera got rearranged and the owner never got around to moving it back to where ti should be, much to his wife's chagrin, but good for us."

"Did it catch anything?"

"We think so," Ken answered.

"Well where is it?" Chandler demanded. Is ire was up and he didn't want to waste any more time, too much had already gotten away.

"Hey! Calm it down," Miles scolded. "the techs have the tape, they're cleaning it up. We came to get you."

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry," Chandler cast his eyes down, afraid to meet either man's gaze. "Let's go," he said in a much smaller voice.

Within minutes there were in a specious room which held the audio/visual equipment. The room was dark only occupied by a few techs.

"Oh, hello," a short mousey man said when Miles and Kent walked in with Chandler. "I was just finishing cleaning it up, quick job I'm afraid.

"Yes, well what did you find out?" Chandler asked.

"Have a look for yourself." The tech sat back down at his desk and turned a few dials and knobs in front of him. As he did the screen lit up with a fuzzy bright image.

"I had to run it though a few filters. While the angle on the camera was good it has low resolution so it doesn't record in the best quality. If I had a little more time I may have been able to clean it up a bit more I have a-"

"Can we watch the tape please?" Chandler said curtly, cutting the man off. The tech closed his mouth and started the tape playing.

Chandler abhorred everyone's incessant need to blather on instead of getting to the point. One of his detectives is missing, the key to finding her could be on this tap. How the tech cleaned up the image, what he needed to do in order to get it done was unimportant to him. It was one of the things about Basen that cause him stress to no end. Her continues need to draw out a story to build up to the point. Not every situation called for a dramatic rise in action before the solution was revealed he thought. Chandler choked on the lump in his throat. He felt awful for criticizing Basen when she wasn't even here to defend herself. He swallowed hard and reminded himself there would be plenty of opportunity to reprimand her when they found her.

He focused his full attention back to the screen. From how the tech had gone on about the tape the quality of the video was surprising. He recognized the alley way, he had insisted Mansell show him exactly where the Smokers Lounge was in order for Joe to see for his self where exactly Basen had snuck off too. The department had already set up a place for smokers to sit out of the elements. A hutch had been erected a few years ago just for that purpose. Why anyone would have gone into an out of the way alley confounded Chandler for almost a full minute. Once he saw the alley the dears slipped into place and his anger boiled over.

He had wanted her to actually listen and work with Riley as instructed. He would have expected her to not listen and continue with her investigation into Block. That he could have handled. Sneaking off to some back alley for a "hook up" infuriated him to no end. He involuntarily balled up his fist as the tape continued to play.

The screen showed nothing at first, but as Basen appeared on the screen Miles, Kent and Chandler leaned into and squinted at the screen.

Basen came into view stood at the top of the alley way but didn't actually walk down into it. She screamed into the air. Paced a few times, screamed again then kicked the wall. She was clearly agitated and everyone had a good idea of why. She continued this silent argument with herself, screaming into the air, pointing her finger and arguing with an unseen person. She suddenly looked down at her phone, there was no sound so it was assumed it rang to call her attention. She contemplated her phone for a second, reached back and made like she was about to throw it, thought better of it and answered it instead.

A man appeared into frame and walked casually up to Basen. The man attempted to talk to her but she turned her back to him and continued to speak into her phone. He tried again, Basen was not impressed and started to walk away, view of the camera but appeared again walking backwards. She made it back to the area she had just left and other figure came in to view.

"Block," he whispered.

The new figured leveled a gun in Basen's face. They all held their breath, the man's hand jerked back then Basen's knees buckled and she dropped, first to her knees then after a long pause she crumbled and fell face first into the ground. Her phone dropped from her fingers and scattered away. The first man started to silently argue with the second. Block pointed the gun to the first man who quickly ran away. Block walked over to Basen's body pointed the gun again, this time at her leg, and shot again.

Block tucked the gun into the waist band of his pants, covered it with his shirt. He looked up out of camera view. A van appeared, Block dragged Basen over to the van and in a few moments had her in and the van drove away.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Chandler sat in his office, in front of him was the laptop Mansell had found in Basen's house. He was hoping to find useful information from it, but was unable to figure out the password to get in. Miles sat at Basen's desk watching his DI, he worried the younger man was coming undone. It was going on 3 am and no one had left to go home. Letting the day end was tantamount to admitting defeat, admitting that Basen wouldn't be found alive. But as the hours ticked on hope was something that was whittling away as fast as the time was.

They had reviewed the tape with one of the officers of the tactical team, he couldn't be 100% sure due to the low tape quality but he believed that the gun used on Basen was nothing more than a tranquilizer gun meant to disable her. The additional shot was simple retribution for shooting Block in the leg. Miles had tried to make a joke about the fact that she pissed off cop and criminal alike but no one was in the mood to laugh.

Chandler looked without seeing at the computer screen, the blinking cursor mocking him. He tried desperately to think what a woman like Basen would use for her password. He had thought Damn American was appropriate but knew she didn't think of herself that way and continued to fume at the computer. He looked up when he heard voices outside his office. Lizzie Pepper and another woman he was unfamiliar with were speaking with Miles. Chandler abandoned the computer to see what was going on.

Chandler had never fully resolved whatever it was he and Lizzie had started and under any other circumstance he would have been uncomfortable speaking with her. He felt no such apprehension today.

"Here he is." Miles said pointing to Chandler as he walked up to them.

"Hello DI Chandler, my name is Audrey Wilkins." She stuck out her hand, Chandler shook it.

"What can I help you with this," he paused and looked at his watch, surprised at the time, "This morning apparently?" Lizzie stood behind and slightly off to the side of Wilkins, she mostly looked down at her feet and would hazard glances at Chandler every now and again who wasn't paying much attention to her.

"Well, your American Detective had contacted me," she was cut off quickly.

"She's a detective who happens to be American," Miles and Chandler said in unison.

"Yes, well, she contacted me yesterday, seems she was interested in some evidence that was collected from a recent crime scene that seemed to have gone missing." Audrey flashed her eyes to Lizzie who flushed bright crimson and attempted to make herself even smaller than she was already. "It was found and I wanted to let her know what was discovered from it. Where is she?" She asked looking around. Chandler and Miles looked at each other then back to the forensics tech.

"What evidence was this? What did you find?" Chandler asked instead of answering her question. He found it a move Basen was fond of doing and thought she would have been proud if the situation were reversed.

"Well at the Lynne Hardey crime scene, there was a blue substance found." Audrey had produced a manila folder and started to read from the paperwork in it. "It turns out it was a fungus called _Trichoderma, _that and traces of pumice and indigo." She nodded at the last part and closed the folder. She held it out and Miles grabbed the folder.

"Why did this take so long to come back?" Chandler asked.

"That is something we are looking into right now." Wilkins looked back at Lizzie again. The tech was still silent, her eyes going back and forth between the floor and Chandler.

"Lizzie?" Chandler looked at her questioningly.

Her head darted up quickly and just as quickly she looked back down.

"Lizzie!" Chandler said her name again with a little more urgency in his voice. "How did this evidence get lost?"

"It really wasn't lost," she confessed.

"What do you mean?" Miles interjected.

"Well, I knew it was needed, and, and, and I ran the tests, they did truly take a while to come back and when they did I just held on to them a little while figuring when you needed them, you would come to get them Joe." She looked up at him expecting understanding but saw none. She put her head back down.

"I don't understand Lizzie, why would you purposely hold onto evidence?" She continued with her head down refusing to answer his question.

"DI Chandler I would like you to know this type of thing will _never_ happen again. Future evidence your team presents will get top priority and will be overseen by a supervisor to ensure swiftness and accuracy, I can assure you." Wilkins nodded to Chandler then to Miles and with a sharp look at Lizzie left the office.

Lizzie held back for a moment, looked up at Chandler for one more chance for compassion found none and left the office behind her supervisor.

Miles walked over to the white board and started to write down the new evidence they had, he got as far as Trichoderma when Buchan entered the room.

"Joe, I've been reviewing the evidence in regards to your missing American Detective." Chandler didn't bother to correct him, he found the task was getting tedious.

"And now I'm aware she wasn't the biggest proponent of my work I believe knowing a bit about team killers will be beneficial to your investigation." Buchan put down a box on Basen's desk, one that Miles recognized as the one he tried to bring into the office a few months ago.

"What is it, did you find something?" Chandler asked walking over to the man.

"Yes and no," He pulled a few pieces of paper and showed them to Joe. "Most of the time when you get two people together who commit crimes there is an aggressive and a submissive as with California killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, where Ng insisted he was forced into the brutal rape, murder, torture and enslavement of dozens of men, women and children and Leopold and Ludwig both insisted the other was more responsible for the killing than the others. Then you have husband and wife teams such as Kenneth Bernardo and Karla Homolka a team of killers in Canada where Karla insisted she was unwilling participant in her husband's rape and murder schemes. I believe one of your killers is calling the shots for both men. One is more prominent than the other which may why your detective was having such a problem distinguishing one from the other. One has been repressed for so long than he basically no longer exists."

"You think if we find him we will find Basen?" Miles asked.

"I think if you concentrate on who one is the other will present himself." Chandler nodded although he didn't think this information helped him much more than the dots on the piece of paper did. Basen had worked on this case nonstop for months and was close but apparently not close enough. Maybe she was missing the piece of forensic evidence they just discovered, maybe she wasn't as clever as she thought and Chandler had given her too much credit.

He stood skimming through the files Buchan had brought with him and half listening to the peculiar man go on about other teams when Mansell and Riley came back into the office.

"Where were you lot?" Miles asked. Riley and Mansell exchanged quick looks then explained.

"We went to see if the video tech had been able to clean up the tape any better, we wanted to see if we could get a plated number off the van."

"I also put in a few calls to see if we could find the man who distracted Basen long enough for Block to incapacitate her." Mansell added. He looked at the whiteboard just behind Miles' head. "Hey who's stonewashing jeans?"

"What?" Miles asked.

"Trichoderma," Mansell answered, pointing to the word on the board. "Instead of washing with actual stones they moved over to this fungus to soften the denim giving your jeans the nice soft lived-in look and feel." The office looked toward Mansell silent and with an air of disbelief.

Mansell flushed at the sudden attention, "I used to date a design major just when she was entering the textiles phase of her schooling." He said sheepishly.

"Well wait." Chandler started.

"What's the problem sir?" Kent asked.

"Before Basen went to make her phone call she mentioned she needed to talk to a man about a washing machine. I thought she was using some bizarre America colloquialism, but maybe she was on to something."

"What? You think Block has set up a jean company and is luring people to their death by selling them ill-fitting well-worn jeans?" Miles snapped.

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous." Chandler snapped back. Chandler and Miles started to bicker back and forth.

"Gentlemen," Riley said in an attempt to get their attention. It didn't work they continued to go back and forth. Riley walked over and stood between the two of them.

"Gentlemen!" she screamed then pointed towards the door.

"What!" they said looking towards her pointing finger. DSI Stephens had just walked into the incident room.

"DSI Stephens," Chandler tried to remain nonchalant. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm assuming you aren't any closer to discovering the location of Detective Basen? Is that something you were just arguing about?"

"Miles and I were just discussing our next step."

"It sounded like a very heated discussion." Stephens remarked. "Perhaps you can allow my team access to the evidence."

"I'm not going to turn over our investigation." Chandler said indignantly.

"Perhaps you should, you've had this investigation for several months now and haven't been able to move it forward." Chandler bit his tongue against the urge to remind the detective that for much of that time his 'girlfriend' was the lead on the case. He felt Basen would have given him a little leeway on that one, throwing her to the wolves so to speak.

"We are all set," Miles interrupted, although the senior detective towered over Miles by a least a foot Miles was moving him towards the door. "If we do need more assistance or feel that we'll need your help in any way we will be sure to ask for it." Chandler couldn't help but move a smile around the corners of his mouth as Miles eventually hurried Stephens out of their incident room completely.

Miles returned to where Chandler stood. "It'd be a cold day in hell I'd let that lout take over this investigation."

"Good work Miles."

"Well," the man's tone suddenly becoming somber. "I don't agree with turning our investigation to another team, but I would like you to keep something with you," Miles looked around not sure he wanted everyone to hear but sure he did want them to be aware of this sobering fact.

Chandler shook his head already aware of where Miles was going.

"We may in fact find Basen, but she may not be alive when we do." Riley let out a choked sob putting her hand over her mouth. Mansell looked down shaking his head, not ready to believe what may have already happened. Kent's eyes flashed to Chandler, for the first time resolving himself to the fact that Chandler's feelings for Basen could be something that Kent couldn't compete with.

"Thank you Miles." Chandler said curtly and walked out of the room.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Basen woke up and opened her eyes but still couldn't see. She could feel the soft cotton of a blind fold wrapped around her head. She lifted her head and looked down in an attempt to see from the base of the covering. She was rewarded with a sharp stab of pain in her temple. Whatever that bastard Block had shot her with not only knocked her out but left her fuzzy and in a tremendous amount of pain. She made a mental note to kill the bastard the next time she saw him. Waking up and not being aware of her surroundings was something that had happened to her before, but no matter how many times it happened she still wasn't happy about it.

She tried to relax, still her breathing and calm her racing heart. She sniffed the air. It smelled stale and used. Almost moldy like rotting fabric, cotton she thought. She moved her head up and down in quick short jerks to see if she could remove the blind fold but could only produce more pain for her trouble. She stopped closed her eyes and listened. She heard no trains, buses or cars. No traffic of any type. Her heart sank with the realization they were most likely too far out of the city or any populated area for her to call for help. Basen stilled herself again and listened closer, her eyes flew open, she could still see nothing but she could sense someone next to her.

"I'm glad you could join us."

Her stomach did a sickening flip and she fought the wave of nausea that would have produced nothing but dry heaves any way, it had been almost 2 days since she had eaten anything. Basen could feel the cold steel next to her temple as the blindfold was cut away. She blinked against the light several times. It wasn't very bright in the room but what little light there was brought renewed pain to her head and directly behind her eyes as they struggled to adjust. She tried to move her hands but realized they were tied at an awkward angle above her head. The jute rope that bound her hands cut deep into her wrists.

"I hope that's too tight." he said smiling down at her.

She was lying supine on a bare mattress. Her legs were up only a few inches higher than her head but it managed to increase her feeling of vertigo. She was slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. What became immediately noticeable was she was no longer wearing the knit top she put on this morning, there was no fabric on her legs either which begged the question where were her shirt and pants? She looked down and realized even the bra she left the house with had been replaced. She knew with certainty she had put on a black brazier this morning, not the bright fuchsia she seemed to be wearing now.

"Let me explain a few things to you Detective Constable Vivi Basen, I don't like you." He started his speech while flourishing a double edged knife. "I hated you the minute I saw you, no, the minute I smelled your perfume, touched your skin." While he said this he took the knife and traced a line down from her temple, the length of her face, down over her chin, her neck, between her breasts, breaking skin contact only long enough to jump over the satin of the garment but quickly going back over the swell of her belly and stopping at the waistband of her underwear. He pushed the tip of the knife into her skin when he arrived at her panties then shifted slowly to her right hip. Pulling the waist band down with the knife and exposing her tattoo. Once he saw the text of her tattoo he pushed harder with the knife easily breaking the skin with the sharp edge.

"I hate this tattoo most of all Vivi, I don't think it is actually possible but I seem to hate it more than I hate you. 'And if your eye offend you, pluck it out'." He recited as he pushed the knife even deeper into her skin. He pulled it back out and made several hurried jabs on her hip on and around the tattoo. The pain was tremendous but she tried desperately not to let it show.

"You take the pain amazingly well, have you done this before?" His sick sadistic smile was back as if the prospect of her agony excited him. "Please if you need to scream, no need to hide it. Please do it all for me." He pulled the knife out of her skin placed the bloody blade in his mouth and tongued it clean. My God you taste excellent. I don't want you to worry with me Vivi, I'm not a sexual sadist, I'm being honest with you. I'm afraid, however that my brother on the other hand, well you have him 'hornier than a high schooler on prom night'."

She frowned at him, unsure where he heard such a ridiculous phrase. She then tried to follow his eyes as he looked over in the corner of the room. Because of how the bed was angled she couldn't completely confirm but she thought she saw a form seated in a chair in the corner. If there was truly someone there this would help confirm their theory that Block had a partner.

"We agreed that I would have you first." Block said standing up, "As long as I didn't leave too big of a mess and left you alive. I'm afraid I'm going to have a very hard time with the last." He reached down to the floor. When he came back up and Basen saw what was in his hands she fought the urge to scream, but could only manage to stay silent for the first half hour.

"Are you going to be OK sir?" Kent found Chandler on the roof of the building. Kent couldn't quite read exactly what Chandler was thinking but felt his concern over Basen was a little stronger than professional.

"Yes, thank you Kent." Chandler kept his eyes focused on the stars and barely looked at the younger man when he said this.

"We all want to see Basen home safe, we'll find where that bastard took her." Kent said this with as much conviction as he could muster. Unsure if he sounded sincere, but trying.

Chandler looked over to Kent. "Even you?" Kent was shocked by this question. While it was true he wasn't best of friends with Basen she was a fellow officer and didn't want to lose anyone in the line of duty.

"Of course why would you ask that?"

Chandler was not ignorant of the fact that Kent seemed looked to him as a mentor and had started tailoring his behavior after Joe. He was also very cognizant of the fact that of the few women they did cross paths with, seemed to put Kent in a very uneasy state. The accusations he had directed towards Morgan before they found the real killer and before she herself was killed still struggled for purchase in Chandler's mind. Was he that jealous over unreciprocated feelings? Chandler decided to ask what he had wanted to a few weeks ago when he had first discovered what Kent was up too.

"What did you find out about her?" Kent scrunched up his face, embarrassed he was found out, wondering briefly if Basen had told Chandler.

"Come now Kent, everyone knew what you were doing." Kent resisted the urge to put his head down, refusing to feel shameful at being discovered.

"Did she ever tell you about her life back in the states?"

"She's told me some things. She's not the most forth coming about, everything."

"She told you she was married?"

"Yes," Kent was a little surprised by this but expected it.

"She told you she had a son?"

"No," Chandler answered. She never mentioned any children.

Kent nodded at this. "She was accused of being involved in their deaths." Chandler was surprised by with the death of her family. However he was a little hurt that she didn't trust him enough with this information. Surely she trusted him enough to relate this story. She was found of relating so many silly useless tales of drug busts or investigations that sounded fantastical, but a story that would have given him more background on her, that would have helped understand her better was the one thing she didn't trust him enough to tell.

"What was your opinion?"

"I didn't really take that much stock in it. They didn't have much more on her than the fact that she wasn't there. It was a bit convenient, she left the day of her son's birthday party after a fight with her husband. There was a big family party, just after the last guest had gone home, she had a fight with the husband, Basen leaves, is gone only about 23 minutes, when she comes back, family murdered." Kent shuffled a bit, his recounting of the investigation did sound a bit cold, but he continued. "I've read the investigating officers report, it didn't sound like he liked Basen too much and focused his attention solely on her. He hated the fact that she was alibied and tried to say she hired someone to do the job, but that couldn't be substantiated."

Chandler wanted to ask how she was alibied but didn't want to know.

"What were their names?" he asked instead.

"Her husband and son?" Chandler nodded.

Kent chucked a bit then answered; "Joe. Joe Sr. and Joe Jr." The detectives fell silent.

"Sir," Miles called from behind them. Chandler turned.

"What is it Miles?"

"We found the bloke who talked to Vivi before Block showed up."

"Perfect." Chandler said and took one last look up to the sky, the last of the morning stars were going away for another day. An image of an old woman with an extinguisher snuffing out the candled stars sprung into Joe's mind. A tale his mother had told him once when he was very young.

"Basen would actually be happy." Miles remarked.

"Why's that?" Chandler asked.

"Today looks to be shaping up to be a nice day. She'd miss star gazing tonight. She's been bitching everyday about the cloudy days we've been having of late."

"Stars!" Chandler screamed.

"Yeah, stars," Miles agreed.

"That's what she was looking at." Chandler ran back down stars, leaving Miles and Kent with confused looks.


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey sorry for the delay. I was writing another story which seems to be a more popular one than this one, which is fine. I do like this story though but I guess me and about 2 other people are the only ones. I'll finish this and move on to the more popular of my stuffs. Let me know what you think.  
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**Chapter 29**

Basen had spent much of her time after the death of her husband and son wishing she could have joined them. She had devoted long stretches of her free time trying to figure out the best way to do it. Most cops did themselves in with their own firearm, while poison was one of the most common methods preferred by women. Basen could never find a poison method that she liked. She wasn't keen to the idea that whatever went in might come back up and out, and hanging could be confused to easily with autoerotic asphyxiation and with her reputation that was the last thing she wanted, so Basen chose the bullet, loaded the gun and waited.

After a while she had discovered she was too much of a chicken shit to off herself. She had the bullet picked out and had come close on many occasions but never fully went through with it. She hated herself enough to continue to be put in situations where the outcome was never certain. Running pal mal into dangerous circumstances, going head first when care dictated. Basen would ignore words of caution from not only others but herself as well. The feeling of horror she would get in the pit of her stomach as a warning would go unheeded.

Now trapped with a manic hell bent on inflicting as much pain as he could before killing her, she could think of nothing past surviving. She had to get out of the restraints. She had to get out before Block or whoever was in the corner finished what she had been too afraid to do herself, finish what she no longer wanted. Her mind kept wandering back to why he was keeping her alive in the first place. None of the other women suffered such fate as all night torture, why was this special privilege reserved for her? He also seemed to know exactly where to cut, poke and stab that would elicit the most pain but minimized blood loss ensuring she stay around as long as possible so he could finish whatever bizarre game he had in mind.

She bore the pain in her head long enough to tilt her head back until she could see her hands. The rope was horribly tight, her hands were numb and she thought they were turning a dark purple color which she knew wasn't good. She needed to get the ropes off and soon or her hands would be too numb to assist in her escape. She tried to flex them to get the blood circulating back into them but was rewarded with an immense stabbing pain that made the typical pins and needles seem tame in comparison.

She could feel someone next to her and she looked over. Block was standing on the left side of the bed, the opposite side from where he first appeared. This must be Block #2, the one with more hair, the one who had showed up at the station with a lawyer. He also seemed like the weirder one. Block #1 seemed to hate Basen and the feeling was mutual. He was a sick sadistic son of a bitch who she could understand and felt she had an advantage over him. She found him impulsive and people like that usually had control issues which you could use against them. Block #2 felt he was smarter than Basen, they have eluded detection for this long so it was possible he was right. She was going to have to wait and see but she didn't think she had much time to find out.

"You know why he hates you right?" Block #2 asked, putting down the tray he was carrying, picking up a rag and using it to wipe her face. Basen had no idea neither did she care. When she saw what Block #2 was carrying she thought of a plan that may not work but she was going to try.

"I knew you'd be his favorite." This confused Basen a little, he hates me but yet I'm his favorite? If this was how he treated his favorite she didn't need to be it.

"The minute I saw you in Gretchen's house I knew you were what he was looking for. You haven't disappointed." He continued to clean her face. Block #1 had seemed hell bent on turning it into ground beef. She guessed she had two black eyes, a broken nose, and was pretty sure she had a broken cheek bone. But Basen had had her ass kicked or more than one occasion and could take most of the abuse. The stabbing was more difficult. He had used his knife and the awl she assumed he used on the other girls. But currently a stab to the heart had to be the only place he didn't impale. Block #2 was attempting to be gentle.

She turned away from him looking at the tray he had placed next to the bed.

"Can I have a drink of water?" she asked.

"In a moment," he mused continuing his exploration of the various cuts and bruises Block #1 had left.

"Do you know why Ronald hates you so much Vivi?" She stayed silent.

"Well," he started to explain putting down the items in his hand and standing up. "It's a combination of a few things. He climbed on the bed and placed his legs on either side of her, straddling her. "If you met on different circumstances I'm sure you would have enjoyed each other severely. What circumstances you ask? Well I don't really know," he said answering his own question. He sat down directly over her pelvis, crushing her. She ignored this new round of torture. She had a plan and right now she it was what she focused on, getting that drink of water.

"How come we didn't see this before?" Miles asked as they raced to the corners office.

"I could only guess it wasn't readily apparent." Chandler answered. The car had barely stopped before Chandler had opened the door and rushed out. Miles and Chandler sped through the corridors and found the coroner bent over report spread across the autopsy table.

"Dr. Llewellyn did you find what we're looking for?" Chandler asked as soon as he stepped through the door.

"Yes," Caroline confirmed. "You're American detective had actually asked Rigby, my assistant for them the other day." The doctor pointed a hand to her assistant

"Were you able to give her what she needed?" Chandler asked the assistant.

"Yeah I gave her what she needed." He said smiling, "and the X-rays." Miles frowned at the man, he didn't believe for a minute the man was making crude jokes, he also didn't put much stock in what he was saying, but Miles also didn't feel like having an argument at the moment.

"Just show us the pictures will you?"

Caroline made her own frown at her assistant and followed the detectives to the X-ray lamps."

Chandler took his phone out of his pocket scrolled through the pictures settled on one found a blank piece of paper and started to trace the dots from the picture. He the place the paper over the X-rays and traced those.

Once he was done he turned to the coroner thanked and bid Miles to follow him.

"Get what you needed?" Miles asked.

"Do you believe the stories about Basen Miles?" Chandler asked his DS.

"Which ones?" Miles asked. Chandler opened his mouth but closed it.

"She hasn't slept with me." Miles explained. "She hasn't slept with you?" Miles asked. Chandler shook his head, but didn't look at Miles. "No I don't believe those stories Chandler. I think things haven't gotten why out of hand for our detective. One of the bad girl reputations kids get at school. I'm sure it's not as awful as everyone makes it out to be."

In short time they were back in the incident room scrolling through star charts on the computer.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Mansell asked leaning on Miles' shoulder.

"Geroff ," Miles grunted pushing Mansell off of his back.

"Look!" Chandler shouted. He pulled out the paper he had brought back from the corners office.

"What exactly are we looking at?" Mansell repeated.

"The Argos." Kent said suddenly just excited as Chandler, then his face took on a look of horror. "Is that what he did?"

"Appears so," Chandler confirmed.

"What?" Mansell and Miles said in unison.

"These dots, Block left them on the victims, I thought there were only a few stab wounds.

"On the surface yes," Chandler agreed. "But once he reached bone went 3D so to speak. The pattern matches the constellation 'The Argos'. Each victim had a portion of it." Chandler put the paper and next to the computer screen. "The constellations Vela, Puppis and Carina all together make up what used to be the constellation 'Argos' what was the biggest constellation in the evening sky but was broken up into its smaller parts. Look, each victim had one, Gretchen had Vela, Hardy had Puppis, and Beard had Carina." Chandler circled the dots on paper in turn each time he mentioned a victim and the corresponding constellation.

"Wonderful, but what does it mean?" Miles asked.

Chandler was silent.

"Jeans!" Mansell shouted, "it makes perfect sense." They looked at Mansell again.

"Argos!" Mansell said, jumping a little as he said it. "They were huge a few years ago, I had like 5 pair."

"So what did Basen find? A jean company?" Kent asked.

"Not just the company, but the whole factory. Must be his hide out."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Chandler fidgeted ceaselessly in the passenger seat of the car. His fingers ached to straighten something, burned to touch or count something, anything. He stroked the dashboard, but the sensation gave no satisfaction. His foot tapped the floor of the car, but the cramped space still gave no release. His OCD was in overdrive, there was no relief in sight.

Miles and Chandler were heading towards one of the two possible locations for Block to have Basen, followed closely behind by Kent and Mansell after they had realized searching both would take too much time, Chandler reluctantly agreed to call Stephens and allow him and his team to search one location while they searched the other.

"Miles, please drive faster," Chandler pleaded again.

Miles didn't respond. No reason to remind Chandler he was already breaking about 10 speed laws. No need to remind him that if they themselves had an accident it wouldn't help Basen. He kept his mouth closed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. If asked out right he would have denied it but he was just as anxious as Chandler. Basen had started to grow on him. The childish pouting aside she did have a level head on her shoulders (occasionally), was quick witted and was smart when she wanted to be. He also hated to admit it but Chandler seemed calmer when she was around, not always on edge. He wasn't sure why it was the case, wasn't sure he wanted to know, he was just happy that it was. He didn't have to worry about his DI as much, well at least in that regard.

Miles hadn't found Chandler and Basen in any additional compromising situations. The last time was in the rest room at the hospital the night they lost Block and he didn't even want to think about what they were doing then. He still kept an eye out for the signs, for hints or clues that they had started something but he didn't see anything and breathed a silent sigh of relief each time. Of course he recognized they could just be hiding it very well, anticipating he was looking out of something, but he was keeping a careful eye out and he was sure there was nothing, almost.

"Miles please," Chandler begged running fingers threw his hair. The action reminded him of Basen and her insistence on mussing his hair. He ran his fingers through again and again it calmed him somewhat. Miles pressed the accelerator down the needle jumped, Chandler continued to rake.

"They're going too fast," Mansell said. He was trying to keep up with Miles and Chandler, it was becoming more and more difficult as Miles drove faster and faster. Mansell was sure they would get lost or crash before they managed to get anywhere near the warehouse.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?" Ken asked, not really looking for an answer but figuring he needed to break the tension.

"Of course we will," Mansell said confidently. He didn't want to think of the alternative. "Basen owes me money, she'd never welch. Now keep quiet and let me drive, right?"

Kent put his head down and kept quiet, still worried what would happen to Chandler if they didn't find her in time.

Riley drew the short straw and rode with Stephens and his DI. She managed to bring them up to speed on what they discovered.

"We don't appreciate being kept in the dark about this investigation," Stephens said.

"You know everything we know now." Riley insisted.

"If you had given us more information sooner we could have moved the investigation forward to conclusion already." Stephens spat this out and twisted his hands around the steering wheel. Riley wasn't sure if he was talking about the Block case or their missing DC but she didn't rightfully care. Right now the only thing on all of their minds was speed.

Basen tried to stretch her hands out again. The rope digging into her wrist was unforgiving. The hands no longer looked salvageable, they had moved to a horrible bruised purple color. She no longer had any feeling and didn't think she would ever be able to use them again. How long had she been tied to this bed, 2 days, 2 weeks? It felt closer to 2 months and she didn't want to think about it. Block #2 moved next to her squeezing her hip where Block #1 had buried his knife deep in her flesh. He pushed away from her and stood up.

"My brother will be dealing with you toot sweet." He said as he dressed, smiling at his cleverness. "I cannot say it hasn't been interesting Basen. Too bad we will not be doing it again." He finished dressing and started to walk out of the room.

"Bach," she stopped him at the door. His hand curled into a fist but he quickly unfurled it. She smiled which broke open a cut on her check but she didn't care, she couldn't resist one last dig. She was going to die, hadn't he all but said that?

"What is it Basen?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Water?" Block #2 paused for a moment she didn't think he was going to answer. She saw his hands clench into fists again and for a moment she was sure he was going to come back and use them like Block #1 had, or simply walk away, she would have preferred him walking away. He sighed heavily, walked over to the bed, picked up the glass and poured its contents in her face. He aimed carefully getting a good portion of the water up her nose and in her mouth, she sputtered, coughed and tried to spit it back out. She gasped for breath and couldn't find it. Her head swam and unconsciousness threatened to claim her as she struggled to keep her head. She heard Block slam the glass on the bedside table. She focused on that and her plan to keep from going under.

"He is going to enjoy killing you, I think I will too." He turned and left the room.

Vivi slowly counted to 10, to make sure he didn't immediately come back. She gathered her strength and pulled against the rope around her wrists. Her body screamed in protest, there didn't seem to be any part of her that didn't ache, she took a mental count. Toes, check, numb and stinging, feet, a little tingly but not too bad. Legs stiff but movable, knees, well we are not even going there, those were blown out in college track a long time ago. Hips were definitely tender, Block spent an abnormal amount of time poking at them with his knife, paying special attention to the tattoo. She was still a little confused what he hated so much about that. Stomach, yep that was still flabby and now thanks to Block's unrelenting fists, bruised. Her breasts garnered special attention with his mouth, well teeth. She wondered briefly what a shrink would make of that fixation. While she continued to make a mental note of the pain in her body she arrived at her arms, which ached from being forced into a horrible angle for so long. She doubted she would ever get the feeling back into the hands. But she was most worried about her face. She was pretty sure it now resembled ground beef, broken nose, broken cheek, right eye swollen shut. She didn't think her face could take much more abuse.

By the time she had finished the pain inventory she had managed to pull herself up to a somewhat seated position, her legs drawn up under her body, kneeling at the head of the bed. She made a quick assessment of the bindings, Block had made sure they were nice and tight. The jute was thin and cut deep into her wrists, the blood soaked into the rope making it an ugly brick color.

Basen now had a new problem. She was where she could easily reach her hands but the glass was now about two feet to the right and down. She knew the constant pounding in her head would be exacerbated by leaning it forward, but she steeled herself for the pain, leaned and grabbed for the glass with her mouth. She managed to pick it up and held it between her swollen lips. The feel of the glass between her teeth was unbearable. She likened it to chewing on aluminum foil and almost dropped it back down hoping to rid herself of the feeling and attempt her escape in another way but chewing threw the ropes didn't seem like an option and Block, unfortunately for her, didn't leave any of his tools behind. Basen promised herself she would give up nameless sex if she could just make it through this latest round of torture. Well for the week anyway.

She braced herself, pulled her head back and struck the glass against the metal bars of the bed. Stabbing pain ripped through her head, the glass made an audible thunk, but held its shape. The glass had also managed to slip back into her mouth, scrapping her teeth. She shuddered and almost dropped the glass. The feeling was worse than nails on a chalkboard. She closed her eyes and waited for the feeling to pass, she needed to try again.

Again she pulled back, again the intolerable pain, again the thunk and again the glass held together. She struggled to understand. She couldn't count how many times in her life glasses had broken without provocation. She had taken them out of the dishwasher broken, put it down on an angle wrong and it broke, looked at it funny and it broke. The one time in her life she needed it to break was the one time it was indestructible. She brought the glass close to her hands and slammed it against the metal bars again, a dull thunk, a sharp pain and an unbroken glass. The glass slipped a little further into her mouth causing a horrible squeaking scraping sound on her teeth, she again almost dropped the damned glass. She didn't want to do it again but she had no other option.

Another slam of the glass and another sharp pain so sharp she almost opened her mouth to scream but managed to keep it closed. She figured it would have surprised Chandler she could keep her mouth closed at all and struggled with both a laugh and sob.

Where they able to make heads or tails of what little clues she had? Was Block and whatever they used to transport her here caught on any cameras? Were they close or still sitting around working through the little scraps of paper she had all around her desk?

She pushed the useless thoughts away, if they had managed to figure out what was going on she shouldn't be waiting around like some second rate Rapunzel and if they hadn't, getting out of here was much more pressing.

"Third times as charm," she said to herself and with no preparation she slammed the glass against the metal rods on the bed and the glass shattered with shocking quickness. It surprised her so that she couldn't stop her forward momentum and her face made contact with the bed frame. Her head swooned, her eyes fluttered and she thought for sure she would lose consciousness for the 100th time but managed to keep herself together. Basen looked around, the pieces within reach had shattered into tiny slivers, way too small to be of any use in aiding her escape. She cursed thinking all that work had been useless when she realized there was something in her mouth. She pushed her tongue around, a good sized piece of glass was sticking out of her mouth, but most was embedded in her check. Her tongue moved towards it and explored the wound running over the sharp edge of the glass cutting more of her mouth in the process.

She swore, prayed, and made empty promises to herself if she could just get out of this stupid bed. She decided she'd focus on one task, get the glass out of her mouth, then she would move to the next task once it was out. She worked at the piece with her destroyed tongue trying to remove it from its place in her equally destroyed cheek. Her mouth had gone passed numb but she finally managed to remove it and grip it in her teeth, the coopery taste of the blood filled her mouth and she fought the urge to swallow or spit for fear she would lose the glass piece she worked so hard to get. She tried to pull herself up to get into a better position and tried to grab the frame of the bed for purchase but her fingers and hands where past useless. She had to rely completely on her arms which meant the ropes pulled against her wrists opening the wounds again.

She rested her head against his hands "Don't fall asleep." She reminded herself. "It's only a small rest," she thought, "promise." But it was no use, the lids became heavy and she lost the battle to keep them open. The cold steely fingers of sleep reached up and dragged her down.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Chandler and Miles cautiously approached entry door of the abandon warehouse, nodding to each other as they stepped inside. Their foot falls calling ghostly echoes in the darkened space, sending rodent feet running to escape the new intruders. The sun was announcing a new day allowing light to penetrate the high dust and grime coated widows set close to the ceiling. There were a few industrial sized washing machines set up far against the wall, Miles assumed they were too big for anyone to scavenge off with. There were various other bits of broken furniture and equipment, an office sat cornered in the back of the building, across from the machines, all of the windows in the tiny room broken or missing. The warehouse seemed too have been disused for several years. Both men were surprised no security patrolled the buildings or surrounding grounds.

The musty smell of moldy spoiled cotton assaulted the men's noses making them wince from the odor. They came to the middle of the room and stopped, standing quiet and still listening for any signals that they were in the right place. Chandler worried they had the wrong location, he was starting to believe he had been completely missed the mark on this. If Basen hadn't been able to find Block in the months she had the case how did he expect to solve it in less than a night? A smile spread over his face with the thought that he had, if he was right he may be smarter than Basen thought she was. Now it was a little more important that he found her alive. She'd appreciate his boasting.

Neither man had made any effort to move further into the building, both blinking trying to get their eyes used to the dimly lit space. There was a stairway just in the back going further into the building seemed their only option for He grabbed the phone out his pocket, Kent and Mansell should have been right behind them, this building was too large for just the two of them to search. Chandler started to press his contacts when there was a scream from above them.

Miles and Chandler were in motion before the echoes died. Chandler in the lead, his long legs carrying him faster than Miles' shorter ones could.

#

Basen woke with a start. Her eyes shifted back and forth trying to remember where she was, what she was doing and how she got here. Her memory returned with the help of the pain in her head and hands. She remembered something about getting out of the restraints. She looked down in panic, what happened to the piece of glass she worked so hard to get. She felt around her mouth with her tongue, it was still there. She maneuvered the piece so it was anchored and leaned forwarded bringing it to the ropes encasing her hands. She scissored her head back and forth praying the glass was sharp enough to cut the rope without much difficulty.

"Why don't I get that for you?" a voice breathed into her ear. Block #1 brought his hand up and with one swift move used the knife to cut through the ropes. With her hands free they collapsed by her side.

"I'm afraid you will not live long enough to get the feeling back into those." He said using the knife to point down to her hands.

Basen's throat ran dry, her legs tried to move but were to numb, she instead fell out of the bed and crashed to the floor.

Block closed his eyes, smiled wickedly and inhaled. "Please, keep fighting, I do hate when they give up." He bent forward and crawled off the bed towards her on his hands and knees, conjuring up an image of some bizarre arachnid in Basen's mind. She tried to move quickly on her own numb limbs in an attempt to get away from him and started to scream.

#

"Search down, I'll go up," Chandler instructed when they met at the stairs. Miles took out a torch and flashed the light down the stairs. Chandler looked up and although brighter it didn't look any more inviting than the gloom Miles was descending into.

Chandler could hear the crunch of gavel outside denoting Kent's and Mansell's arrival he hesitated momentarily debating whether or not to delay his ascension or Miles descent to continue their pursuit of Basen when a crash made him move again. The acoustics of the building made it sound as if everything was coming from several directions at once. Chandler felt his decision to split up was as shaky as his decision to search this warehouse over the other but figured he had to start somewhere.

Chandler fretted as he weaved his way through the dilapidated building. Crumbling plaster bled from the walls, holes in the ceiling had let the elements in year after year damaging support beams concerning Chandler further. He hugged his long coat around him and slowly picked is way around the holes in the floor and mystery stains on the walls, as well around the broken equipment and furniture. He finally made it through the hazards stepped into the first room he came to, the situation was familiar.

#

Block caught up quickly to Basen she hadn't managed to get more than 5 feet away from him. Block crushed flat against her, her useless limbs failing her for the last time flopped foolishly around her. Block bent his head forward and brushed against hers in a bizarre lovers caress. He was deceptively heavy and his weight crushed around her pushing the air out of her lungs suffocating her. He held fast and rolled over with her cradled in his arms, unable to fight back Basen was a veritable dummy in his grip. Block sat up, wrapped his legs around Basen's, slid his hands over hers, wrapping her numb fingers around the knife he held and guided her hands to her chest. She was going to participate in her own death. He placed the point on her chest and pushed down on the handle, letting the tip pierce her skin.

"BLOCK!" Chandler screamed from the door. He stepped slowly into the room, his eyes darted around hoping to catch an opportunity to free his DC from the insane man's grip.

Block removed his hands from Basen's, the knife stayed sticking unnaturally out of her chest, it had pierced deep enough to stay fast without dropping. Block instead moved his hands to Basen's face, one covering her mouth and nose completely, the other wrapping around her neck. His large hands prevented the air from escaping her mouth and nose.

Chandler locked eyes with Block. Too much space separated them for Chandler to reach them but he moved forward regardless. Block's grip on Basen's neck tightened, the implication clear, come closer and he would end her life before Chandler could cross half the room.

Too long without air and Basen started to buck against him her arms flailing wildly at her sides as her lungs burning hot for air. The unusual vice grip he had her encased in prevented her from moving to wildly, she was starting to get an idea of how he managed to subdue and kill the other women.

Suddenly Basen was in a wind tunnel, the odd swishing of air filled both ears. The last of her fight was leaving her, death, she thought, would be a blessing. She barely registered when Chandler yelled her name but was aware enough to see him raise his arm. She thought she recognized the familiar shape in his hand and went still. She only had a second to briefly wonder how good of a shot he was when the report of the gun sounded loudly in the room. Basen fell back on top of Block, his lifeless body no longer offering the support she had counted on to stay erect.

She heard food steps running and sliding up next to her. She heard someone call her name, she felt warmth as something was placed over her and she felt strong fingers and hands lift her head. After that she felt nothing more.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Chandler adjusted the box in his hand and slipped the lap top under his arm to knock on the door. It was a light tap. He grabbed the laptop before it slipped from under his arm and backed down a step. He figure he should have called first, it was possible she wasn't home and if she was, it was possible she wasn't alone. He waved the concern away and figured if she wasn't alone he would drop the lap top and quickly leave as to not disturb. He could hear someone behind the door and watched the knob make a few half turns before opening.

"Chandler?"

"Basen I," he tried to hide the sharp intake of breath. Although healing, Basen's face still wore the wounds of their encounter with Block. He had seen her on numerous occasions since but it still surprised him to see her once vibrant face now bruised and broken.

She stepped aside and waved him in. Her place still looked the same, although he was sure she managed to squeeze in about 1000 more books into her home.

"Have you given any thought to a bookshelf?" he chided.

She kicked the door close with her foot and lumbered to the sofa sitting down hard. Chandler was a little concerned, gone was her smart mouth and snappy comments. He missed her wit and felt awful someone had taken it from her. It seemed to shrink her.

"I have your laptop," he said in a cheerful tone holding it up in front of him.

"Thanks."

He set it down on the wicker chest in front of her, keeping the box in his other hand out of site.

"Thought you'd be missing it. I brought something else." He'd paused. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" His eyes darted around the small room as if someone may be hiding behind one of the many stacks of books around.

"No Chandler," old Basen would have said something, old Basen would certainly have had a comment or witty retort. He tried to think of something himself but nothing came.

"My mother," he started moving around the chest to the opposite end of the sofa away from her, "Always thought a house was not a home without certain things to fill it." He put the box he had in his hand down and began removing his coat. "Since I could not get you children, without a lot of paper work and breaking a few laws, I brought you something else."

Basen had taken the collar of her cowl neck sweater and had covered the lower half of her face as Chandler went on she sat up straighter and lowered the sweater, slightly.

He bent down out of site and opened the box, when he came back there was a fluff of white in his hands.

"I knew you had the thing," he used the fluff of white to point in the direction of her rodent cage, "but I thought something to cuddle with would be better." He shrugged on the last bit, flushing slightly at the inference. He put the small puff on the couch, a snow white kitten stretched, let out a tiny mew and bounded over to Basen's end of the sofa. They watched as it claw climbed its way into her lap curled up and fell asleep.

"Wait," she said as she carefully lifted her sweater with the kitten settled inside readjusted herself on the sofa then placed him back down in her lap. When she picked up the sweater it showed a momentary glimpse of skin, Chandler's eyes peaked and saw the crisscross of scars and ugly wounds that made it impossible to look away.

"You got me a cat to make my house more of a home, however I notice animals horribly vacant from your own abode."

"Yes." He said flatly, he didn't think he could handle the mess an animal would make in the house.

"Well if you would like you can have visitation rights. Every other week Tuesdays I think and major holidays, but I get him every American holiday."

"You have to give _her_ a name."

Basen looked down at the kitten and scratched it behind the ears. She smiled the smarmy way she used to, something he hadn't realized he missed until she was here doing it. The smile must have caused her discomfort because she didn't keep in long and instead retreated back into her sweater.

"How about Blackie?" Chandler put on the face he reserved for Basen when she said something odd and this was no exception.

"It's a white cat Basen,"

"Yes but Snowball and Snowbell or any snowy thing seems horribly obvious and over done." She went into her lap and scooped the cat up, the kitten fumbled in her hands, fell and landed back in her lap.

"The feeling comes and goes," she said retreating back into her sweater. "I don't think the feeling will ever come back."

She looked ridiculous shrugged into her sweater, almost like a turtle and he laughed in spite of himself.

"What's so funny then?" She asked glowering at him.

"You look foolish," he said reaching over and pushed down the neck of her sweater. They locked eyes for a moment but Basen turned away and pulled the sweater back up.

"We are looking forward to you coming back." He tried. "Whenever you're ready, say the word."

She chuckled. "We both know that's not going to happen, even if I wanted to come back," she held up her hands, "I'd never be cleared."

"You don't want to come back?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "What do you do when not trying to show everyone how smart you are?"

She slid a sideways glance at him. He laid the bait but would she take something so obvious?

"I don't know," she said stretching her legs and putting them on the coffee table in front of her. "I might need help."

"Help, with what? I could help you with whatever you needed."

"You'd do that for me Chandler?" she asked finally turning back to him.

He nodded ruefully, trying to show as much sympathy as he could, while silently smiling to himself that he was able to reel her in so quickly.

"Well perhaps you could help me with something now." She said perking up. "I mean if you're genuine."

"Of course what is it?"

"Well," she said standing up with the cat secure in her hands, she spun and placed it on the couch in the divot she had created. The kitten didn't stir. Perhaps Coal, she thought to herself or Midnight. "I mean, only if you wanna." She said turning her full attention back to Chandler.

"Sure, what is it?" he asked again

"It's just that Percy was no good at it, wondered how he ever managed to survive up until this point. I really can't get anyone to do it with me now because of the," she pointed a twirling finger around her face. "I think it was one of the main reasons why my parents had so many of us kids around."

Chandler's brow furrowed, what exactly was she thinking?

"Come on, I'll make it quick," she said pulling off her sweater and revealing a thin pink camisole that she quickly pulled in down around her waist. "You won't get too messy."

"Basen, I don't really think,"

"Oh, nonsense, you must be excellent at it, big strong guy like yourself."

"It's just I," he was at a loss. Was he curious, most certainly, was he that curious, he wasn't sure. "I think Miles would kill us."

"Miles?" she scoffed, "Why should he care?"

"He had warned," Although if she wasn't coming back to work it wouldn't be much of a problem would it?

"Are you typically this apprehensive? It's a wonder you do it at all. Or do you just not do it with other people? Usually go it alone? I find it's not as exciting when you're by yourself. Kinda sad and lonely. Plus I do a lot of talking so I sound crazy if I do it by myself."

Chandler looked at Basen and couldn't stop shaking his head, not daring to believe he could induce such an animated response from her, but happy to see it just the same.

"Come on," she said sticking out her hand waiting for him to grab it so she could pull him off the couch. He stood on his own not wanting to risk further injuring her hands.

"Here?" he asked, his heart pounding in his chest, so loud in his ears he was sure she could hear.

"Here?" she asked back at him twisting her face in an incredulous look. "How can we do it here, everything we need's in the kitchen." She said turning on her heal and walking through the door way.

"The kitchen?"

"Yeah, what cooking do you do in your living room?" she asked pulling open the refrigerator. "I haven't had a decent meal in days, can't really grab anything well." She said waving her hands in the air. "Wait, were you thinking something else?" she asked, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"No," it came out as a horse cough. He cleared his throat and tried again. "No." he said with more confidence.

She smiled at him, the sly corner thing. "Don't bait me Chandler, you'd regret it."

"Really?" he said cocking an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't know how to handle me."

He chuckled not willing to back down.

"I have a pretty good idea."

She walked over to him, stood on her tip toes and pushed her face until she was inches from him. He moved closer into her, he could play this game right along with her.


End file.
